MISSOULA - A national nonprofit is helping to give out coats to kids that need them.
Operation Warm and FedEx teamed up to give out nearly 300 coats to the kids at Franklin Elementary School in Missoula.
It started with 58 coats back in 1998 and since then, the Philadelphia-based nonprofit found itself in Missoula, handing out coats to children, with the help of FedEx.
Operation Warm partnered with FedEx when the shipping company noticed a need for kids to have coats in our area. Gifting coats from kindergarten to fifth grade, the team of volunteers not only spread warmth but smiles.
“This school is primarily really a walking school, so a lot of kids aren't taking the bus. So, a coat is a necessity especially in the weather here that the temperatures are dropping, the snow is coming,” said Sarah Smith with Operation Warm.
School officials have found if kids do not have a coat, they're less likely to come to school.
“Kids need a coat to come to school and we find that if they don't have that coat, a lot of kids aren't coming to school because they can't get there,” Smith said. “So we're hoping that by providing these necessities that we are helping these kids giving them better attendance, giving them a chance to have a better education because they're getting into the school and you know, just providing that confidence and that hope for a brighter future."
People can donate or get a coat by going to https://www.operationwarm.org/.
