October Is ‘Coats For Kids’ Month
Cold weather will be here in East Texas before you know it and unfortunately, there will be kids right here in East Texas that will not have a coat (or jacket) to keep them warm this winter. This is where we, as a community can come together to help those that can't afford a coat for their kids with the Coats For Kids coat drive.
Now's the time to go through your closet and your kids' closet to find those coats and jackets and try them on, if you've outgrown them, don't throw them out donate them to the Coats For Kids campaign. All month long area dry cleaners will be accepting gently used coats to give them to those in need this winter. The dry cleaners will clean the coats for free and then give them over to P.A.T.H. in Tyler or Longview Community Ministries in Longview, who'll distribute them to families that need coats for their kids.
You may drop off gently used coats at the following dry cleaners in Tyler-Smith County:
- The Cleaning Company
- Dry Clean Super Center
- Hart's Cleaners
- Progress Cleaners
- Regency Cleaners
- Shannon's Cleaners
- VIP Cleaners
You may drop off gently used coats at the following dry cleaners in Longview-Gregg County:
- McClendon Cleaners - White Oak, Longview, Kilgore
- Alpine Cleaners - Longview
- Dry Clean Super Center - Longview
- Service Cleaners - Longview
- Sno-White Cleaners - Longview
- Village Cleaners - Longview
Coats will then be distributed on a first come first served basis. In Longview, the Longview Community Ministries will distribute coats on Saturday, November 12th from 8a - 2p at Broughton Recreation Center at 801 MLK Blvd. Children and parent must accompany each other to receive a coat. In Tyler, coats will be distributed on Saturday, November 19th from 8a - 5p at the old Griffin Elementary School gymnasium located at 3000 N. Border Ave. in Tyler. Pre-registration will be required to receive a coat through P.A.T.H., you may pre-register online or by phone at 903.597.7284 to receive a coat from those donated in Tyler-Smith County