Excerpts from the dailychronicle.com:
For the fifth year in a row, the firefighters at DeKalb Fire Station 1 partnered with the DeKalb Classroom Teachers’ Association to help local kids stay warm in the winter months. They opened the station doors Saturday morning to area children and provided brand-new winter coats, doughnuts, and juice.
Like thousands of their colleagues across North America, these firefighters partnered with Operation Warm – a nonprofit that manufactures new winter coats for kids in need – to get the job done. They also had help from local sources, such as DeKalb Township, which donated $1,000.
Members of DeKalb School District 428’s teachers union, meanwhile, recommended students from their schools who could use the help. Knights of Columbus members helped hand out the coats, and Thrivent Financial put together a tote bag for each child, stuffed with gloves, a winter hat, hot cocoa, Crayons, a coloring book, and an eraser.
DeKalb’s Operation Warm volunteers handed out 120 coats this year, doubling 2017’s total. Hopefully, they’ll be able to continue helping take the pressure off local families and teachers for years to come.
