Letter to the Editor

Dear Mower County Community,

We would like to extend a sincere thank you to everyone in the community who donated towards the Community Outerwear Drive for Kids. Thank you to Westminster Church for their generous financial donation, the many individuals in Mower County who made financial and coat donations. This year 244 children from 101 families received a much needed winter coat and other outerwear items.

We would also like to thank Oak Park Mall for the use of a store and all their help during distribution; Hormel Foods for having an internal coat drive; the YMCA for being a collection site and washing coats, The Cedars for donating hand-knitted hats, scarves and mittens; local school personnel for helping identify children in need; The Welcome Center for translation services; Younkers for all their help, New Beginnings Church of Christ for the generous donation of coats, the Mitten Project for 211 pairs of warm handmade mittens and finally our volunteers who came and provided much needed help in sorting, displaying and distributing coats to kids.

This was a true community effort and we thank all of you for your part in making the coat drive a success and helping kids stay warm this winter.

With sincere gratitude,

Mandi Lighthizer-Schmidt,

Executive Director,
United Way of Mower County