Donate to Tim’s Coats for Kids campaign

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MEMPHIS, Tenn. — It’s a labor of love to make sure every child in the Mid-South can stay warm this winter.

We’re continuing our highly successful Coats for Kids project, but this year, News Channel 3’s Tim Simpson is giving it his personal touch, so we’re calling it Tim’s Coats for Kids.

Tim wants you to help fill his coat closet with new or gently used coats for boys and girls attending school in Memphis and Shelby County.

“So many times our babies have to wait until Christmas to get their new coats. When they need them now,” Lori Phillips, principal of Belle Forest Community School , said.

Phillips thinks of all 1,100 students as her “babies” and is a strong believer in how Tim’s Coats for Kids impacts their young lives.

“And when we are giving these coats to them, and it does not have to be new, but the coat drive, the gently worn coats, you just seen them develop this great sense of pride,” she said.

On a tour of Belle Forest recently, Phillips showed us how easy it is to determine the need for coats.

In one room, for instance, the student’s cubby-hole was full.

“And actually, as I’m looking, I see two coats that were donated,” Phillips said.

“I see two that were donated,” she added.

But in another classroom, she quickly spotted a difference.

“And here, there’s no jacket. Here, we have one jacket, so we know that this little boy needs a jacket here,” Phillips said.

Students at Belle Forest live within a two-mile radius and most of them walk to the school on Ridgeway Road.

Last year, Belle Forest only got 15 donated coats, and Phillips hopes for more this year.

That too is the goal of Tim’s Coat for Kids sponsors: Great American Home Store, Great American Sleep Shop, Orion Federal Credit Union, Southland Park Gaming and Racing and Crazy Cleanerz.

Collection boxes are in place and people are dropping off coats at the above locations.

But Jack Wells, director of Marketing and Advertising with Great American Home Store, said there’s still a long way to go to meet this year’s goal of 3,000 coats.

“I know everybody’s got coats in the closet they’re not using or either they’re too small. So now is the time to bring them in, so we can get them out to these kids in time for this winter,” he said.

A huge warehouse at Great American Home Store on Appling Road is where coats will be stored after they’re picked up and thoroughly cleaned by the staff at Crazy Cleanerz in Cordova.

“I would say that we have done thousands and thousands of coats. And it’s just a good way to give back to the people who need something out there. And a way for us to help the community,” owner Spencer Nix said.

Nix said his crew is eager to make every donated coat “look just like new.”

“New coats, damaged coats, tattered coats, leather coats, it doesn’t matter. It’s all for a good cause,” Nix said.

Phillips agrees it’s a cause that will help thousands of boys and girls stay warm during the cold months ahead.

“Because the community is being a blessing to us, so we can be a blessing to our babies,” she said.

Bring some coats, get some coffee, and meet the WREG news team next Thursday between 6 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. at the WREG studios, located at 803 Channel 3 Drive.

The first 200 people to bring two coats or more will get a coupon for a free car wash.

And remember, these coats are going to elementary and high school students.

Here are the other locations where you can drop off coats:

SOUTHLAND PARK GAMING & RACING
1550 N. Ingram Blvd.
West Memphis, AR 72301

WREG NEWS CHANNEL 3
803 Channel 3 Drive
Memphis, TN 38103

Great American Home Store
7171 Appling Farms
Memphis, TN 38133

Great American Home Store
5295 Pepper Chase Dr.
Southaven, MS 38671

Great American SLEEP SHOP
2075 N. Germantown Parkway
Memphis, TN 38016

Orion Federal Credit Union – Whitehaven Branch
3155 Millbranch
Memphis, TN 38116

Orion Federal Credit Union – Raleigh Branch
3118 Covington Pike
Memphis, TN 38128

Orion Federal Credit Union – AMERICAN WAY BRANCH
4805 American Way
Memphis, TN 38118

Orion Federal Credit Union – Midtown Branch
1975 Union Ave.
Memphis, TN 38104