Divided though some neighborhoods might still be about the results of the 2016 presidential election, most New Yorkers can agree on this: every city resident deserves to be warm this winter.
The volunteer network New York Cares is set to launch its 28th annual coat drive Tuesday, welcoming donations from both sides of the political aisle.
New York Cares is trying to collect and distribute 125,000 coats to its nonprofit and school partners this year — a 25 percent increase over its 2015 goal — through individual coat and financial donations.
New Yorkers can bring their gently used, freshly laundered outwear to drop-off sites at police precincts, Queens Library branches and major transit hubs as of Nov. 15. A map of locations involved in the drive will be posted here next week.
Those who prefer to contribute money can already text “COAT” to 41444; each text donates $20 toward the cost and delivery of one new coat.
“Homelessness has reached a record high, with approximately 60,000 New Yorkers spending each night in the shelter system,” New York Cares Executive Director Gary Bagley said in a statement earlier this month, citing statistics released by the NYC Department of Homeless Services in September. “In addition, 1.7 million residents live below the poverty line. The need in our city is simply enormous, and we’ve developed the text option to cast a wider net and engage more New Yorkers than ever."
New York Cares has distributed more than 1.7 million coats since it established its annual drive in 1989.
