Snow-delayed opening days at Wrigley Field aside, warm weather is on the horizon in Chicago. But spring and summer temperatures won’t be slowing down Operation Warm’s work. In fact, the nonprofit group’s Chicago chapter is ramping up its volunteer efforts in the coming months to get new coats to kids who need them when the cold comes back. The group provided new coats for 43,000 kids in the Chicago area last year, spokesperson and local development director Rich Lalley said.
Operation Warm’s Chicago chapter has partnered with local corporate sponsors and community organizations to donate new coats to children who qualify for free or reduced lunch for a decade. While the donation doesn’t start until August, Lalley said this spring and summer his group will be focusing on developing new partnerships and programs and training new volunteers ahead of fall and winter donation events.
On May 8, for example, Lalley and his team are inviting those interested in joining them to meet with community partners and other residents in the Loop as part of the citywide On the Table initiative to brainstorm new donation avenues. Last year, the event inspired a new Operation Warm partnership with certain Chicago Public Library branches.
As volunteers interact directly with the kids, the onboarding process takes a little longer to allow for background checks and other training. Potential volunteers with weekday availability (donation events take place on weekday mornings in the fall and winter) and those affiliated with groups or companies interested in partnering with Operation Warm can find out more information at operationwarm.org.
Coats obviously keep kids warm in Chicago’s brutal winters, but Lalley said the donations do more than that. They can allow kids to get much-needed exercise during recess when gym programs have been cut or to come to school at all when buses aren’t available. Plus, it offers generosity to kids who might not often experience that kind of personalized kindness.
“For a lot of these kids, they’re used to hand-me-downs from their brothers and sisters and cousins,” Operation Warm’s media coordinator Lauren Holloway said. “For them to walk through the line and pick out a new coat in their color and size, you can see their faces light up.”
Gwendolyn Purdom is a RedEye freelancer.
Looking for more to do in Chicago? “