The New York Jets in conjunction with A-1 First Class Moving and Storage will hold their annual coat drive to benefit Jersey Cares on Dec. 23 at MetLife Stadium prior to the game against the San Diego Chargers. Fans are encouraged to bring new or gently used coats that will be collected at all gates upon entering the stadium.
In its 17th year, the Jersey Cares Coat Drive is an annual lifeline for New Jersey's neediest citizens during the winter months. Last year the Jersey Cares Coat Drive supplied more than 40,000 warm, gently used winter coats to children, women and men who desperately needed them.
Again this year, Jersey Cares will work with more than 300 corporations and organizations across New Jersey to publicize and collect coats in their locations, creating a network of publicity and community action for this effort that breeds its great success.
Jersey Cares, with extensive volunteer support, will organize the coats and then distribute them to more than 200 nonprofit agencies serving thousands of New Jerseyans in need. Before Hurricane Sandy devastated New Jersey, Jersey Cares already had requests for 40,000 coats and the numbers have increased dramatically. For a complete list of public collection sites, see jerseycares.org.
In addition to the coat drive at the stadium, the Jets are supporting the 24th annual New York Cares Coat Drive through a $1,000 donation. The Jets and New York Cares are also asking people to donate their gently used coats throughout the month of December at the following locations: any New York Police Department Precinct, any branch of the New York Public Library, Brooklyn Public Library or Queens Library, weekday mornings at Atlantic Ave.-Barclays Center, Grand Central Terminal, Jamaica Center, New York Penn Station, and the NY Port Authority Bus Terminal, anytime at Citi Pond at Bryant Park, Janovic Paint & Decorating Centers and Storage Post facilities, and at hundreds of private coat collection sites in the region. (Visit newyorkcares.org for a complete list of donation locations.) New York Cares' goal is to collect and distribute 200,000 coats for New Yorkers in need, twice the size of last year's goal. Last winter 5,000 children who needed coats went cold, so New York Cares is urging everyone to help. But it's not just children who need help — thousands in the New York area, especially in Hurricane Sandy's wake, 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 more than 1.5 million coats since the inception of its coat drive 23 years ago. For more information visit newyorkcares.org.
