The New York Jets in conjunction with Burgdorff, Realtors ERA and A-1 First Class-Viking Moving and Storage will hold their annual coat drive to benefit Jersey Cares on Dec. 30 at The Meadowlands from 2–4:15 p.m. prior to the Jets-Kansas City Chiefs game. Fans are encouraged to bring new or gently used coats that will be collected at all gates upon entering the stadium.
The Coat Drive is an annual lifeline for New Jersey's neediest citizens during the winter months. Coats collected will be distributed to men, women and children at New Jersey homeless shelters, community organizations, churches and agencies serving seniors.
In addition to the coat drive at the stadium, the Jets are supporting New York Cares' citywide coat drive through a $1,000 donation. The Jets and New York Cares are also urging people to donate their gently used coats throughout the month of December at:
- any New York Police Department precinct
- Grand Central Terminal, Penn Station and the N.Y. Port Authority Bus Terminal on weekday mornings
- the U.S. Coast Guard Recruiting Station
- The Pond at Bryant Park
- Janovic Paint and Decorating Centers
- Time Warner Cable stores
- hundreds of private coat collection sites in the region (visit www.nycares.org for a complete list)
Ninety percent of homeless adults need new, warm coats each winter because they have no place to keep one over the summer months. But it's not just the homeless who need help — thousands in the New York area are forced to make a choice between buying a winter coat and putting food on the table or meeting other basic survival needs. New York Cares has collected and distributed over one million coats since the inception of the Coat Drive in 1989.
Programs funded by the New York Jets Foundation touch the lives of countless young men and women in the tristate area. Realogy Corporation, a premier global provider of real estate and relocation services, and its subsidiary companies Burgdorff, Realtors ERA and Cartus, are title sponsors for all of the Jets' community relations programs. Over the past seven years, the Jets and their charitable foundation have donated or contributed more than $7 million to promote youth health, fitness and education, particularly in disadvantaged communities.
From fighting childhood obesity through the Generation Jets: Be Lean & Green initiative to launching a football team in a Harlem high school, urging students in the Bronx to eat right and move more, and supporting the efforts of the Alliance for Lupus Research, the New York Jets invest in programs that make a difference in the lives of others. In addition to the Jets Foundation, which supports our own extensive youth initiatives, the Jets partner with numerous established charitable organizations and participate in causes sponsored by the NFL.
