TORRINGTON — Warm the Children is underway and donations are needed to provide winter clothes for local children.
Warm the Children, founded in 1988 by former Register Citizen publisher Mack Stewart, already is helping families who don’t have the means to provide warm coats and hats for their children. Every year, volunteers take these local families shopping, using money donated from the community, to buy what they need.
This year’s budget is about $5,000, and donations are needed to help more people. To assign volunteer shoppers with families, Maura Malo of Northwest Community Bank receives names from Friends in Service to Humanity of NW CT Executive Director Deirdre DiCara, who reaches out to social services agencies, day care centers and local schools to find out who are the most in need. The Register Citizen, following Stewart’s example, provides advertising space to promote Warm the Children.
“We’re in a coordinated partnership with the Register Citizen, because Mack Stewart saw children outside without coats and scarves and hats and gloves, and decided to do something about it,” said Owen Quinn, executive director of United Way of Northwest Connecticut.
“These are not hand-me-down clothes,” he said. “These are brand new, because kids want the right stuff, new stuff, and this gives them an opportunity to outfit themselves with the things they want. They’ll feel good and fit in with their classmates.”
The cold weather is already here, Quinn said, making the timing of the Warm the Children kickoff “at the very right time.”
“Here we are on Nov. 16, and we’ve already seen a couple of inches of snow,” Quinn said. “Winter is rearing its ugly head. We’re asking all the people of northwest Connecticut to get behind this. During the holiday season, it’s a great way to say that their donation is allowing them to adopt a family and see that they get the winter clothes that they need. Families will know that their donation is going directly to a family.”
Families often use the donation opportunity to remember a beloved relative. “I have one that reaches out to me every Thanksgiving, because their father died Thanksgiving week, and they remember him by donating 6 to 12 fresh turkeys. It’s keeping his memory alive. There are lots of ways people can designate where they want their gift to go.”
Families or individuals can contact Quinn at 860-489-4131, ext. 100. “If they have specific families or ideas on how to direct their charitable giving to make sure their wishes are fulfilled, I can help them with that,” he said. “People can also go to northwestunitedway.org, click on the donate button and look for Warm the Children, to make a donation (or volunteer).”
