Thanks to our thousands of supporters, we send brand new coats to disadvantaged children in 40 states, and we are asking you to help today.  We know how hard it is to imagine a winter of cold and despair, yet for 16.5 million children in this country, it’s a reality that prevents them from attending school and playing outside with friends.

Won’t you please consider a $20.00 gift to Operation Warm?  It will mean warmth, hope, and love to another child who is struggling to survive this winter.

Thank you from all of us at Operation Warm and from the children who receive a new winter coat thanks to your generosity.  Please click here to donate $20.00 now.

I have to share a story with you regarding an Operation Warm coat given to a child here in Chicago.

My friend is a therapist at Association House of Chicago.  He was able to obtain a coat through Operation Warm in December for one of his child participants.  This boy and his mother have absolutely nothing. This boy has never had anything new before and now that he has this brand new coat, the funny thing is, he doesn't want to wear it.  He does not want to get it dirty or ripped.

Just shows how easy it is to take things for granted in life. And my friend said it is the greatest joy to have seen the faces of this boy and his mother when he received the coat. 

Keep up the good work!

We wish all of our donors could experience the joy of seeing the bright faces of the children who receive the gift of warmth thanks to their generosity.

“Working with the Coats for Kids Foundation has honestly been the easiest fundraiser we’ve ever done.  They provided everything we need and more!” said Honey Dew franchise owner, Kathy Leaver.  “We’ve done several fundraisers in partnership with the local firefighters, so when I found out that the Coats for kids Foundation had a relationship with the IAFF, I immediately reached out to see if the New Bedford firefighters would be interested in working together on this.”

Local 841 jumped right in.  The New Bedford and North Dartmouth Honey Dew locations are collecting donations for the Coats for Kids Foundation throughout the month of November, but firefighters came out to promote the event and even serve some coffee to customers during a special event on November 17th.  Over $1,000 was collected Saturday. 

“It means so much when groups come together in a community and help support what we do,” said Paul Daigle, Director of Development Initiatives at Operation Warm.  “More children will be kept warm this year because of their efforts”. 

50 States for Good seeks to uncover local nonprofit groups that address urgent community needs and engage volunteers to get the work done.  Operation Warm, together with Aid for Kids, has been named the finalist in the state of Maine.

31% child poverty... 97 inches of snow a year... over 10% unemployment... That is what life is like for children in rural Maine.  Last winter, Aid for Kids, a grass-roots, all-volunteer agency, called Operation Warm, desperate to find coats for the children they serve.  Just days before Christmas, we sent them 1,500 coats, which were transported and distributed by 200 motivated, eager community members to Maine schools and agencies.  The grateful recipients said, "Thanks to you, we had warm kids this winter," and, "The jackets flew out the door; the need was so great!"

With your help, we can send even more coats to these children in the place they call "The Coldest Spot in the Nation." Help us win the $50,000 first prize, or one of five $20,000 second prizes, by casting your vote from today through October 9, 2012: www.facebook.com/TomsofMaine

Nikolas has launched his very own philanthropic campaign called “Running the World for Children.”  This campaign will raise money for Operation Warm to provide new winter coats to children in need.  Learn more about Nikolas’ story and support his efforts by sponsoring some of his steps by clicking here.

Follow Nikolas’ progress on Facebook. 

Thank YOU and your team SO MUCH!  It is because of wonderful people and organizations like you folks that people impacted by disaster are able to move forward with their lives.  Speaking for all the families that your gift is helping, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Blessings to you!

Donna W., Communications Coordinator
ACS Community LIFT
5045 West First Avenue
Denver, CO  80219

We're looking forward to another year of giving the gift of warmth to hundreds of thousands of children in need.  Thank you to all who support our work and to the wonderful team at ACS Community LIFT in Denver for all they do in their community.

It's a wonderful day, and we have YOU to thank!  In partnership with many generous hearts, Operation Warm exceeded our goal to raise enough money to ship 250 coats to children affected by the Colorado wildfires!  

We were blown away by your answers to our call for help.  Support came from 25 states all across the country; we couldn't be more grateful!  More than 250 coats will be on their way to Colorado next week, just in time for the National Donations Management Network to prepare back-to-school provisions.

People helping people in their time of need - that's what Operation Warm is about, and you came together to do just that.

It's a beautiful thing!  Please know that you have made a real impact that will leave a lasting impression on the children of Colorado.

With gratitude,

The Operation Warm Team

“The IAFF has a long history of supporting programs that help local neighborhoods and families,” says IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger. “Community outreach efforts can have long-term and lasting impact on the local communities IAFF members serve.”

Firefighters Coats for Kids Foundation is established to help children in poverty survive and thrive by providing hundreds of thousands of new winter coats and bringing warmth to needy children.  Through collaboration with Operation Warm, Inc., the turnkey program will help inspire hope for the more than 17 million children living in poverty in the United States and Canada, as well as help bring coat manufacturing back to North America.   

The Firefighters Coats for Kids program was initially launched in conjunction with the Fairfax County, Virginia Fire and Rescue Department and Fairfax County Professional Fire Fighters and Paramedics Local 2068, which supported and brought forward this Convention resolution to share with their brother and sister fire fighters across North America.

About Operation Warm, Inc. – Operation Warm, Inc. is a national 501(c) 3 non-profit established in 2002 to address the need of children living in poverty in the United States for new winter coats.  Through community partnerships and private funding, Operation Warm distributes brand new winter coats to children living at or below the federal poverty level.  The largest organization of its kind, Operation Warm’s work currently reaches 37 states and in 2010, began efforts to migrate some of the manufacturing of its coats back to the United States providing an adjunct benefit to workforce development initiatives.  Operation Warm, the largest organization of its kind in North America, distributed its 1,000,000th new coat in February 2012.

About IAFF - The International Association of Fire Fighters, headquartered in Washington, DC, represents nearly 300,000 full-time professional fire fighters and paramedics who protect 85 percent of the nation’s population. More than 3,100 affiliates and their members protect communities in every state in the United States and in Canada.

Click here for more information about the Firefighters Coats for Kids program.

In response to the ongoing wildfires raging through Colorado, Operation Warm has activated an emergency response effort and needs your help.

We need your support to raise the funds necessary to ship 1,000 coats to Colorado.  Working with the National Donations Management Network, these coats will go directly to the children of the families who have been displaced by these horrible wildfires and have lost many of their belongings and clothing.  So far, fires have destroyed hundreds of homes and forced more than 30,000 people to evacuate.

Through this relief effort, Operation Warm is mobilized to respond to an urgent need for help.  Getting coats to children is what we do, and with your help, we can ensure that the children in these communities are prepared for the soon-to-arrive cold weather. It may seem like a small thing, but a new coat will bring security and warmth to these frightened and confused children.  

Colorado averages 38” of snowfall per year, and over 169 days of temperatures below freezing.  It’s on its way, and will be here before we know it.  As we’ve seen from the fires, nothing stops Mother Nature.  Getting coats to children now will free up limited resources to rebuild the families and homes devastated by these horrible wildfires.

To donate to this emergency effort to ship coats to the children of the Colorado wildfires, click here.  THANK YOU!

Operation Warm is proud to announce we’ve been selected as a Top 5 Finalist in the Human Services category for the 4th Annual CLASSY Awards! From a pool of 2,400 nominations, our Achievement Story stood out as one of the best of the best as judged by the Stay Classy team!

The CLASSY Awards is the largest philanthropic awards ceremony in the country, celebrating the greatest charitable achievements by nonprofit organizations, socially conscious businesses, and individuals worldwide. In 2011, nearly 2,000 organizations and volunteers were nominated for a CLASSY Award, and their collective efforts impacted the lives of more than 200,000,000 people in 71 countries worldwide.

We are humbled by the great company we keep as a finalist for this award, and invite you, our supporters, to not only vote for us, but also review many of the other fine organizations.  You will be awed by the good done in the world by like-minded souls.  We work with a few of them- Jumpstart and United Way of Lake County- to distribute coats to the children in need that they serve.

You can review all of the finalists and vote for your favorites at www.stayclassy.org/classy-awards/vote.  You’ll find us in the Eastern Region, Human Services Category.  We greatly appreciate the backing of all of our partners, supporters and fans, without whom we would never have reach the recent milestone of serving One Million children in need.  Thank you!

This event distributes new winter coats to over three thousand families living in Chicago Housing Authority and Choice Voucher housing, while connecting families with valuable social services, including educational, work force development and medical resources.  The CHA selected Brandon Barnes, whose family received coats at last year's event.  Brandon plays little league ball, and it showed, as he fired a hard strike while Cheryl looked on in amazement.

In addition to thanking Cheryl and the White Sox, we need to thank the CHA for partnering with us for five years on this great event, and to JPMorgan Chase and PepsiCo for being our lead sponsors of the event.  This year's Impact Beyond Warmth event will take place on October 27, and we're hoping that Cheryl will join us in handing out coats to great kids like Brandon.

Click here for a listing of our donors last year.

So Be a Hero...Enter To Win in Operation Warm’s New Winter Coats for Local Kids in Need Sweepstakes!  It’s your chance to win 60 FREE COATS for a local school or agency* of your choice.  A $3,000 Retail Value.

Click Here to Enter.

Thank You for Your Support.  Together, we can change the world, one child at a time.

* Only one qualifying entry per email address, but schools and agencies may be entered multiple times. Five bonus entries will be added for each of your Facebook friends entering the sweepstakes, so encourage your friends to enter to increase your chances of winning.  This sweepstakes ends June 30, 2012.  The winner will be announced on July 2, 2012.

Thank you to each one of you who has supported us over the years!  We couldn't have reached this milestone without you.

Katie Baxa, philanthropy chair of Alpha Phi Omega, states, “’Go coatless for kids’ is how we are pitching it to students here.  We want students to experience the cold without a coat as we consider childhood poverty across the country!” 

Lieutenant Governor Matthew Denn, Newark City Mayor Vance A. Funk, and our founder Dick Sanford were in attendance and spoke during the event, which attracted more than 200 students plus several families who have already been coat recipients.

This year, the holiday season was even merrier for the children in Jewish Child Care Association’s (JCCA) Mental Health and Preventive Services program. Through the generosity of Operation Warm Inc., an organization that provides coats to underserved children, 126 brand new coats were donated to the youth for the holidays. This was particularly welcome this season as the continued economic downturn has made it difficult for struggling families to give their children the clothing they require. JCCA is thrilled that our neediest children will now be warm and cozy this winter season!

Here are some comments from the grateful children and their parents on receiving their gifts:

“Receiving a coat for my son has been so helpful, because without this help he would not have a coat for the winter.” –DG

“My son needs this coat. I don’t have the funds right now to get him a new one. Thank you so much!” –CJP

“Will I wear this coat? Of course, it is so nice!” – HH

A BIG THANK YOU TO ACCUGENIX.

“The Riverside Elementary School students, parents, staff and community would like to express our sincerest gratitude for the coats you provided. To you it may be just a coat, but to our students it’s the difference between a good or bad day. We appreciate you kindness and thoughtfulness”
-Tiashia Roberts, Counselor

“My son Zakai said ‘Thank You!’ the coat is a perfect fit. Looks like we got it just in time for the historic nor’easter”
-Angel (parent at Project Hope)

“Thank you for your generous donation of coats to Leake and Watts. We are truly delighted to be able to provide children and their parents in our programs with bright, beautiful but most importantly warm coats. The coats will be distributed to children from low-income communities in the Bronx who are part of our foster care, preventative services and Head Start programs. One of our program directors said that the coats were the best in-kind gift his program has ever received. We are grateful for the gift."
-Alan Mucatel, Executive Director

These grins are brought to you by wonderful folks like you, who believe that every child should be warm in winter.  For all of your past support, we say THANK YOU on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of kids we've given the gift of warmth since 1998.

As winter's coldest days begin to close in on us, there are over 18,000,000 children in this country who will struggle to survive without basic necessities. Childhood poverty grows at an alarming rate; the need is greater than ever.

This winter, Operation Warm is pushing hard to reach our one millionth child, a milestone that underscores the dire need to help U.S. children in poverty not only survive, but thrive.

With your $20.00 donation, you will ensure that a child receives a brand new winter coat - an important necessity that increases the opportunity for better school attendance, healthy outdoor play, and better overall health. Please also remember that for many of these children, this will be their first new winter coat, EVER!

Thank you for considering our request to DONATE NOW. Thank you!

...these smiles are PRICELESS!

On Monday December 19th the Fairfax County firefighters and paramedics sponsored their the 14th Annual Firefighters Holiday Rescuer’s Toy Drive  at Penn Daw Fire and Rescue Station 11 in  Alexandria, Virginia.

Department members, the Progressive Firefighters of Fairfax County, Inc., and International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) Local 2068, have been collecting toys and  games to be distributed to children throughout Fairfax County. Thanks to Operation Warm, new coats were added to the many items children received just in time for the holidays.

Through generous donations and support from businesses and civic organizations including Coats for Kids a service of Operation Warm, Deloitte Consulting, Inc., Promax Realtors, Apple Credit Union, Nationwide Creditors, and the Rotary Club of Tysons Corner, that several thousand school-aged children and their families  received holiday gifts this season.

She researched different organizations and became interested in Operation Warm-a non-profit that originated in her own back yard. She loves the idea of a local organization solving a local problem.  She used her passion for baking to raise money and awareness for Operation Warm. Olivia challenged the Sunday school kids at Beth Emeth in Wilmington Delaware to raise money. The best performing class won a cupcake party. 

At the end of the challenge, over $500 was raised, delicious cupcakes were eaten and the Delaware community became aware of the fantastic work of Operation Warm. Olivia plans to continue with this project and bring it to her high school next year.

With the skies gray and gloomy with blustery rain and winds at 20 MPH and temperatures dipping into the mid 30’s the weather conditions were ideal for the need of a warm winter coat. The Rotary Club of Carpentersville-Morning was able to fulfill that need for close to 350 children in the Carpentersville District 300 school district Wednesday November 9th, 2011.

For the 3rd consecutive year The Rotary Club of Carpentersville-Morning conducted their Operation Warm program which to this date has bought close to 600 brand new winter coats to local needy children in the Carpentersville Community. The Carpentersville Rotary Club works with the Operation Warm Organization to help provide the brand new winter coats, which are made out of 100% recycled material, and utilizes the Boys and Girls Club of Dundee Township to determine the need from the youth in their programs.

Through various fund-raising activities and gracious donations the Rotary Club of Carpentersville-Morning was able to raise around $6,000 to purchase the 350 coats to distribute for this year’s Operation Warm Program. Originally started in 2009 as the clubs flagship program, the Operation Warm program has quickly grown from 1 school with 80 coats to 5 schools and close to 350 coats in a 3 year period.

 
Children who received coats have participated in a year long program, put in place by the Boys and Girls Club of Dundee Township, dedicated to community service. These children then presented their community service essays, posters and accomplishments  to the Carpentersville Rotary when they received their coats and made the night all that more fulfilling. The many Thank You’s, Hugs, High Five’s, and Bright Smiles were more than enough to show the amount of appreciation from both the Rotary Club of Carpentersville-Morning and the many little children. 

The Rotary Club of Carpentersville-Morning Plans to continue this program in the future and is very grateful for all the community support, volunteers, and help from the Boys and Girls Club.

On December 3, 2011, Cumulus Radio and Northeastern Ford Dealers joined Operation Warm to sponsor an amazing program in Youngstown.  Their generous support allowed Operation Warm to partner with the Salvation Army of the Mahoning Valley in the distribution of over 1000 coats to children in need.  

The event was staffed by the Salvation Army, Cumulus and Ford volunteers giving vo;unteers a first hand look at how their genorousity impacts thier local community.  The event aimed to distribute the brand new coats to local families in need.  Cumulus, was instrumental in getting this new program off the ground. They spearheaded the fundraising efforts by running campains on all eight of their stations surrounding Youngstown to generate the neccesary support for the program. Without Cumulus'  passion and interest, as well as The North Eastern Ford Dealers commitment to the community, none of this would be possible.  As Major Elijah Kahn of the Salvation Army of Mahoning County said when speaking of this gift,  "The limited resources, the scarce resources that these families have, they can use it to pay their rent, or pay their light bill.  And we can provide these coats so that their children can have something during the winter."  

What an amazing show of holiday spirit from Cumulus and Ford! Thank you for all you do.

This wonderful awareness raising effort highlighted Operation Warm’s efforts in Alexandria and Fairfax counties VA. OPeration Warm, with the support of local partenrs was able to provide hundreds of coats to children in need this fall. As the highlighted cause, the local community were able to learn more about our work right in their back yards.  In addition to spreading the word about our work, the ‘Cause of the Month’ program donated a portion of all ad proceeds.  This will help fund our local programs with the Fairfax and Alexandria counties Fire and Rescue. With the outpouring of suppoert, Operation Warm will be able to host ANOTHER coat distribution at the end of December.

This honor will help us reach even more children as cold weather sets in around our nation’s capital. Let’s all thank the Alexandria Times staff for helping Operation Warm spread the gift of warmth!

Old Navy is partnering with Operation Warm for this week-long event in a unified effort to ensure children living in poverty in their communities receive the gift of warmth as the nation's weather turns cold.

If you or anyone you know lives in such areas as Little Rock, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Oklahoma City, etc., please take advantage of this special opportunity to buy a coat and ensure a child will be warm.

Also Operation Warm truly appreciates Old Navy's support and in turn we will be partnering with local organizations and elementary schools to make sure area kids are warmer this Thanksgiving season.  If you are a local organization in the areas where this promotion is taking place, Operation Warm would love to hear from you.  Similarly, if you are a retailer interested in working with us we'd love to discuss joint opprotunities with you! 

For the fourth year, Operation Warm partnered with the Chicago Housing Authority to provide Impact Beyond Warmth to over 3,000 families and their children living in poverty.  10,000 children received new winter coats while their parents were connected with valuable social services at a Resource Fair featuring over forty agencies and companies that help low income families improve their lives.

At the event, flu shots were given, state IDs and drivers licenses renewed, energy assistance applications processed and connections were made.  Work force development agencies, dental and medical clinics and education resources were on hand, meeting families and offering their services. 

Great thanks are due to the event sponsors, especially JPMorgan Chase, who provided scores of volunteers, and PepsiCo, who passed out thousands of bags of groceries.  Both companies also made generous donations to cover the cost of the 10,000 new Operation Warm coats, as did Harmony Health Plan, ComEd, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois, Nan McKay, CVR Associates, Mesirow Financial, CNA Financial, TEC Services, Chicago White Sox Charities, Groupon and the Partnership for New Communities.  Thanks to all who made this a great event, and helped put smiles and a nice warm feeing on so many Chicago children.