Members of Troop 1415 -- Havens Elementary School fourth graders -- are collecting gently used coats through Dec. 17.

The coats are being turned over to Family Support Services of the Bay Area for distribution to local needy families.

While this is the first time Troop 1415 has taken on this project, another Piedmont Girl Scout troop has collected coats for the agency for the past four years.

"This is a very wonderful and special experience for the families and us," said Judy Levin, associate director for Family Support Services of the Bay Area, which serves families in Alameda and Contra Costa counties.

Levin said that Piedmont Girl Scouts have donated well over 150 coats annually to the agency over the last four years. "They have all been almost brand new looking and in great condition," she said.

This year, troop 1415 members are hoping to collect lots of children's coats, said troop leader Kelly Ellis. "It should be a coat that (the recipients) feel proud of being able to wear -- so nothing that has a big stain on it, or a rip, or a zipper that isn't working," she said.

Piedmonter Tina Yuen deposited two coats in the coat collection box -- in the lobby of Havens school -- on Nov. 12.

"I have coats I don't use and my kids don't use. They're in good condition," Yuen said.

Yuen said that when she was cleaning out closets recently, she set the coats aside knowing that the Girl Scouts typically sponsor a holiday coat drive. "I've been saving them for the last six months because I knew this was going to be going on."

Thus far, response to the call for coats has been overwhelming, said Ellis.

"I had originally told the girls we should check the box once a week or every couple of days," she said. "But we found we need to check the box every day -- or at the least every other day - because it's just been overflowing."

As of last Friday, Ellis estimated that at least 50 coats had been donated in roughly two weeks.

After the donated coats are collected by the Girl Scouts, they are washed or dry cleaned and then brought to the Family Support Services of the Bay Area's local office on Grand Avenue in Oakland.

They are taken to the agency on a weekly basis "so that they can (be distributed) as soon as we drop them off," Ellis said.

Recipients get to sort through the available coats and select their favorites, she said.

The Girl Scouts say they are happy to have the opportunity to help others via the coat collection. "I like doing it, because it's nice for people who need help," said Hadley Heckmann, 9.

Levin said that the agency gets very moving thank you letters from families who have benefited from the coat collection. "Every year we hear stories about parents who have just lost a job and don't have any extra income to purchase a new warm coat for their children," she said.

Levin vividly remembers the excitement of one youngster, who selected a leather jacket with a Harley Davidson logo that was donated during the coat collection a couple of years ago. "He wouldn't take it off," she said.

In addition to Heckmann, members of Troop 1415 include: Rebecca Christopoulos; Libby Corvin; Amber Ellis; Lizzie Goetz; Hannah Hodess; Leslie Joe; Eliza Klyce; Danielle Rendall; Joy Risk; and Emily Serleth.

Other troop leaders are Shirley Christopoulos and Valerie Fahey.

For more information about the coat project, call Ellis at 510-482-5852.

To participate in the Family Support Services of the Bay Area's "Sponsor-a-Family" program during the holidays contact Clare Roberts at 510-834-2443.

Write to Lisa Coffey Mahoney at## lmahoney@cctimes.com.

Contra Costa Times
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