What a beautiful day we had yesterday, working with AEP Ohio and four of our partner agencies to donate more than 450 Macy's coats to children across the area. This is the fifth year for our coat drive, and it's our longest-running Assignment, dating back to the heat of Summer 2018. We were a brand new charity and asked officers what they needed from us.
"Coats," they replied, explaining that they see kids in the winter wearing six sweatshirts, trying to stay warm. We were shocked to find that even in the summer, officers were thinking about children shivering in the cold and knew that it was important to them, so we made it a priority for us as well.
As soon as we met our friends at AEP Ohio in 2019 and told them about our coat drive, they wanted to support it and have ever since. We've now worked with them and our partner agencies to give out more than 2,000 coats, with a lot of help from people like the 614 Cadets, Macy's, and our Starfish volunteers, especially Financial Secretary Suzanne Maginn.
As one officer delivered coats yesterday, a little boy cried tears of joy at receiving his coat. He asked if he could choose one for his little sister as well. He touched everyone's heart with his joy and his thoughtfulness.
Thank you to AEP Ohio, Columbus Division of Police, the Franklin County Sheriff's Office, Franklin Township Police Department, Gahanna Division of Police, Dublin Police Department, Macy's, the 614 Cadets, and our volunteers for making this year's event so special.
All of these coats have been allocated, but if you are a family in need of a coat or other resources, please see the website findhelp.org for options.
