Operation Warm – Warming the Hearts, Bodies and Lives of Children, One Coat at a Time
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More than 16 million U.S. children live in perpetual poverty with parents struggling to meet basic necessities. Without adequate winter clothes they are unable to attend school leading to inadequate education, nutrition and de-socialization that regrettably leads to increased juvenile crime.
Operation Warm is the first national effort to meet this tragically overlooked problem by providing brand new winter coats to at-risk American children. To a child the new warm coat says I’m valuable, deserving and equal to my peers, thereby instilling confidence and self-esteem. Operation Warm’s mission is simple and direct: to provide new winter coats to children in need.
Faced with the urgency of this mission, Operation Warm has outfitted one million children across 37 states in new winter coats since its humble beginnings in 1998. Founded by entrepreneur and philanthropist, Richard D. Sanford, Operation Warm’s first coat distribution was at a bus stop in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania where Sanford was disturbed to discover coatless children waiting to go to school in freezing temperatures. With the help of his local church and Rotary club, Sanford purchased 58 coats in Operation Warm’s first year for the at-risk children in his local community.
Today, Operation Warm works collaboratively with schools, shelters and human service agencies to identify children in the most critical need across the country. By teaming up with civic organizations, businesses, foundations and other philanthropic organizations, Operation Warm is able to keep overhead to a minimum, which means that 97 percent of donations go directly to program costs in order to serve more children with warm winter coats.
Operation Warm is unique because it manufactures brand new winter coats that are not only stylish, but also do not label children as needy or as a second-class citizen. Grants from foundations and corporations, as well as donations from passionate individuals fuels Operation Warm’s annual coat project that at present provides upwards of 220,000 new coats to at-risk American boys and girls between the ages of 3 and 12.
The next million coats will be an exciting chapter for Operation Warm as they recently signed a partnership agreement with a U.S.-based manufacturer, American MoJo whose workforce is comprised primarily of at-risk single mothers living in the United States.
“Our partnership with American MoJo will address another critical issue for the families we serve,” says Sanford. “The mission of American MoJo aligns perfectly with Operation Warm and together we will work as a united front to help alleviate the effects of poverty.”
For many, Operation Warm coats are often the catalyst for community partners to develop a relationship with at-risk families that help begin to break the cycle of poverty and give children a sense of belonging.
More About This Charity
Region
Northeast
Category
Human Services
Name
Operation Warm, Inc.
Mission
Since 1998, Operation Warm has provided new winter coats to U.S. children who live at or below the federal poverty level. Our mission is to provide new winter coats to at-risk children so that every child feels valued and is empowered to get to school and gain an education, helping break the cycle of poverty.
Impact
- One million at-risk American children have received brand new winter coats.
- This Achievement raised $1,500,000
- This charity raised $3,552,221 in the past year
- This Achievement helped 1,000,000 people
- This charity helped 220,000 people in the past year
Works In
United States
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