Warm Coat Drive

Here is a twist on advocating for special needs children. How about helping them learn that they can help others? This article highlights an after school program for special needs students that is near us. Last year the students started a service project to collect 100 coats for the One Warm Coat project. They were able to collect 273 coats and donate them to the Bay Area Rescue Mission. Some of the students went on to volunteer with other non-profit groups. This year the students are planning another coat drive and hope to exceed their collection from last year.

Some action steps to consider:

• If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area consider donating a coat to these students. Gently used or new coats are welcome. Donations can be delivered to George Miller Center, 2801 Robert Miller Drive, Richmond, CA by December 19. For more information call 510-374-3981 or send an e-mail to clam at arcofcc dot org.

• If you don't live nearby, look around for other programs that work with Special Needs students and want to encourage them to serve their community. Support a program that is already in place or help get one going.

• If you are a special needs parent, consider how you can encourage your own child to serve his or her community. A couple of years ago we went to an event where we helped make care packages for needy children. At that time the simple act of putting the package together and drawing a little picture for the recipient was about all my daughter could understand, but it was a start. She still tells me sometimes that she wants to give things to someone who doesn't have one of those (sometimes it's a sibling, though, so I'm not sure she understands the idea of charity :-). I'm sure this is an area we'll continue to work on, and the upcoming holiday season offers a great opportunity to do so.