There is still an immediate need for donations of winter coats and accessories for the needy, announced Livingston Coat Drive organizer Jeff Friedman.
Friedman, who is coordinating the drive for the fourth consecutive year, explained, "We've been going strong for a number of weeks now. But winter is, realistically, just getting started. So the need for warm coats and winter gear is still acute."
The Coat Drive is being conducted in partnership with the West Essex Tribune, whose office at 495 South Livingston Avenue (next to ShopRite) serves as a drop-off point for donations.
Friedman, known popularly as "The Coat Guy," and his Coat Drive "Dream Team" of volunteers have been making regular deliveries of gently used and new winter coats, gloves, scarves and hats to a variety of distribution partners in Newark and East Orange. The "Dream Team" includes Livingston residents Bob Gebroe, Candi Samansky and Adam Slavitt; the Coat Guy's sister-in-law, Joyce Friedman of Montclair; and Caldwell resident Rick Levin.
The Coat Drive's goal, said Friedman, is "providing warmth to the poor, homeless and disenfranchised." His distribution partners for the drive range from social service agencies to churches to soup kitchens. Deliveries are made at least once a week, he explained. "So our donors should know that the items they donate are going immediately to families who really need them."
Last week, the Dream Team made a delivery to the Willing Heart Community Center. Located in the heart of Newark's Central Ward, Willing Heart is a community outreach effort of the Metropolitan Baptist Church. The agency is geared toward "promoting health and wellness through cultural and artistic expression, recreation, resurrection, and social services," notes Pastor David Jefferson. "At the Willing Heart Community Center, persons celebrate life to its fullest. Living well is our focal point."
The Rev. Jefferson, noted Friedman, "has been a wonderful advocate for the poor in the city for many years. We're happy to be able to help him out."
Recently joining the effort to collect coats for the needy is a pre-school class at the JCC MetroWest. After reading about the Coat Drive in the Tribune, pre-school teacher Roni Weiner contacted Friedman about her class's coat drive. Her four year old students, with help from family and friends, will be collecting coats, hats, mittens, and gloves. These will be picked up by the Coat Guy for immediate distribution to the Coat Drive's partner agencies. "Collection partners seem to be popping up ...
