New York – Empress EMS is hosting its first annual coat drive to collect clean gently worn or new coats
until March 31st. Area residents are invited to make a difference in our local community by donating to
the coat drive and helping Empress EMS reach our goal of collecting 50 coats and 2500 dollars.
“We are excited about our upcoming One Warm Coat drive and invite the community to participate and support our efforts. The need for shelter from the elements, like food and clean water, is especially
urgent now. Due to the economic crisis created by the COVID-19 pandemic, the poverty rate in 2020
increased for the first time in 5 years. Currently 37 million Americans are living at or below the poverty
level and struggling to afford basic necessities. All of the coats we collect will be distributed in our
community and help our neighbors stay safe and warm this winter,” said Coat Drive Ambassador and
local resident, Deputy Chief Walt McCabe.
Last year, more than 400,000 coats were distributed across the United States to children and adults in
need through One Warm Coat’s Coat Drive Program. “We’re grateful to our volunteer Coat Drive
Ambassadors like Empress EMS! It’s because of our incredible volunteers that so many coats are saved
from landfills and given a second life protecting our neighbors in need. Thanks to Empress EMS’ efforts, many people in this community will be warm this winter”, said Beth W. Amodio, President and CEO of
One Warm Coat.
Please make donations to our cost drive in Yonkers and our coat drive in Poughkeepsie.
About One Warm Coat
One Warm Coat is a national cloud-based nonprofit organization that provides free coats to children and
adults in need while promoting volunteerism and environmental sustainability. Over the past 30 years,
One Warm Coat has facilitated more than 43,000 coat drives, collecting 7.3 million coats that have been
distributed through 1,400 nonprofit partners across all 50 states. Individuals and organizations can get
involved by donating coats, holding coat drives, and making financial donations. Every $1 donated
warms 1 person. One Warm Coat believes in each person’s right to shelter from the elements and is
committed to sharing warmth, without discrimination, one coat at a time.
Contact Name: Walt McCabe
Daytime Phone Number: 914-965-5040 ext. 3319
Contact email: WMcCabe@Empressems.com
———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Update February 2023:
Empress launched our first coat drive in an effort to give back to our community, and to help those in need. We partnered with One Warm Coat, a national non-profit whose mission is to provide free coats to children and adults in need. Clothing and shelter from the elements are part of the “physiological needs” section of psychologist Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs, along with nourishing food, drinkable water, and a safe place to sleep. While we in EMS tend to focus on the acute needs of a person in distress, Empress is glad to offer assistance however we can.
Since we got a late start, we set a modest goal of 50 coats donated by March 31, 2023. I am elated to report that we doubled our goal and were able to donate 100 coats! They were delivered to the Yonkers SDA church on North Broadway, who holds a weekly open pantry to help the community. While I appreciate the donations received by our own Empress team, we did receive some help from other community members, especially the Pearl River High School International Club.
There is only one draw back to the success of our coat drive. It sets a high benchmark for year 2!! We will launch the second annual Empress EMS coat drive some time in the fall. We will set a higher goal for this year, and look forward to matching, or exceeding, our success!
From the Desk of Dep. Chief McCabe
