Coats for Kids
Donation protected
100% of the funds received from this gofundme will go towards purchasing coats, gloves, hats, mittens, snow pants, or boots for Waterford Elementary school students in need! The goal is to have all supplies delivered to students by November 1st so that more students will be warm this winter.
Based on a teacher estimate, almost half of the students in one of our Waterford Elementary Schools will not have the supplies they need to stay warm this winter. These supplies include coats, gloves, hats, snow pants, and snow boots. Some students may have one or two of the items listed above, others may have none.
This is a serious problem in our community. Many elementary school students spend upwards of 30 minutes at a time outdoors for recess. Keep in mind, frostbite can set in within 30 minutes in extremely cold temperatures. And, as any Michigan resident would tell you, extremely cold temperatures are certainly not uncommon here! From January to March in Michigan, the low average daily temperatures are all below freezing.
For many of our students, recess is not the only time that a lack of proper winter gear could be dangerous. A large number of students ride the bus to school. This means waiting at the bus stop rain, sleet, or snow. Students are advised to arrive at the bus stop at least 10 minutes before the bus is meant to arrive at their stop and many children have a fairly long walk to their bus stop. This means that our elementary school children can be outdoors for upwards of fifteen minutes, not accounting for the occasional late bus, without proper supplies before their school day has even begun. Children who walk to school year-round face similar hardships.
All of these problems exist even before we begin to talk about childhood activities such as sledding, building snowmen, or the various other joys that children in such a cold climate should be able to enjoy comfortably.
The point is, elementary school children need proper outerwear for the winter. Again, by one teacher estimate, nearly half of all students at one Waterford Elementary school do not have proper access to this gear. This winter though, we can do something to change that.
In addition to this raising funds on this platform, Coats for Kids will be running a can drive and accepting donations of gently used children’s coats, gloves, mittens, hats, snow pants, and snow boots. With this combination of the gofundme, can drive, and donated materials, Coats for Kids aims to provide as many of these supplies as possible to as many Waterford Elementary School students as possible.
If you have returnables or children's winter gear you’d be willing to donate, please reach out, everything helps! Additionally, I would be so appreciative if you would share this page with friends and family. The more people we can involve in this project, the better! Together, we can help students stay warm this winter!
I’m a high school student now, but I attended one of our Waterford Elementary Schools. One of the things I still remember is how this lack of winter supplies in our community impacted students.
I remember the kids who were too cold to enjoy their time outdoors. I remember the kids who would play in the snow and come back inside with clothes that were soaking wet because they didn’t have the correct equipment. I remember being unsure what I could do to help solve this problem.
I felt that way for a long time. I had identified a problem. In elementary school, I saw the impact of this on students everyday, but I was so unsure of what could be done to help. I talked to family members about the problem, and still, I didn’t know what I could do to help.
As a sophomore though, my high school has presented me with the perfect opportunity to do something about this. “As a sophomore,” they said, “You must complete a project that teaches you something and helps a community.” Those are my only two guidelines. I’m able to choose the project and execute it.
Immediately, I knew that I wanted to do something to address the lack of winter gear in Waterford Elementary Schools. At first, I thought I would just run coat drives this year. This however would only bring back so many winter supplies. It was with that realization that I really began to look into fundraising for new winter supplies as well as taking donations of gently used ones.
Fundraising, to me, is such a powerful thing. This is because it allows huge communities of people, whether they have seen the problem firsthand, or just learned about it through this description to come together and do amazing things.
With a combination of donated supplies, donated funds, and donated returnables, we can help so many Waterford Students and their family members this year to enjoy a warm and safe winter.
This project, Coats for Kids, aims to see a larger number of warmer students in our community this winter. I aim to see more warm students in our community this winter. Anything you would be willing to donate gets us one step closer to this.
Thank you so much for your support!
Based on a teacher estimate, almost half of the students in one of our Waterford Elementary Schools will not have the supplies they need to stay warm this winter. These supplies include coats, gloves, hats, snow pants, and snow boots. Some students may have one or two of the items listed above, others may have none.
This is a serious problem in our community. Many elementary school students spend upwards of 30 minutes at a time outdoors for recess. Keep in mind, frostbite can set in within 30 minutes in extremely cold temperatures. And, as any Michigan resident would tell you, extremely cold temperatures are certainly not uncommon here! From January to March in Michigan, the low average daily temperatures are all below freezing.
For many of our students, recess is not the only time that a lack of proper winter gear could be dangerous. A large number of students ride the bus to school. This means waiting at the bus stop rain, sleet, or snow. Students are advised to arrive at the bus stop at least 10 minutes before the bus is meant to arrive at their stop and many children have a fairly long walk to their bus stop. This means that our elementary school children can be outdoors for upwards of fifteen minutes, not accounting for the occasional late bus, without proper supplies before their school day has even begun. Children who walk to school year-round face similar hardships.
All of these problems exist even before we begin to talk about childhood activities such as sledding, building snowmen, or the various other joys that children in such a cold climate should be able to enjoy comfortably.
The point is, elementary school children need proper outerwear for the winter. Again, by one teacher estimate, nearly half of all students at one Waterford Elementary school do not have proper access to this gear. This winter though, we can do something to change that.
In addition to this raising funds on this platform, Coats for Kids will be running a can drive and accepting donations of gently used children’s coats, gloves, mittens, hats, snow pants, and snow boots. With this combination of the gofundme, can drive, and donated materials, Coats for Kids aims to provide as many of these supplies as possible to as many Waterford Elementary School students as possible.
If you have returnables or children's winter gear you’d be willing to donate, please reach out, everything helps! Additionally, I would be so appreciative if you would share this page with friends and family. The more people we can involve in this project, the better! Together, we can help students stay warm this winter!
I’m a high school student now, but I attended one of our Waterford Elementary Schools. One of the things I still remember is how this lack of winter supplies in our community impacted students.
I remember the kids who were too cold to enjoy their time outdoors. I remember the kids who would play in the snow and come back inside with clothes that were soaking wet because they didn’t have the correct equipment. I remember being unsure what I could do to help solve this problem.
I felt that way for a long time. I had identified a problem. In elementary school, I saw the impact of this on students everyday, but I was so unsure of what could be done to help. I talked to family members about the problem, and still, I didn’t know what I could do to help.
As a sophomore though, my high school has presented me with the perfect opportunity to do something about this. “As a sophomore,” they said, “You must complete a project that teaches you something and helps a community.” Those are my only two guidelines. I’m able to choose the project and execute it.
Immediately, I knew that I wanted to do something to address the lack of winter gear in Waterford Elementary Schools. At first, I thought I would just run coat drives this year. This however would only bring back so many winter supplies. It was with that realization that I really began to look into fundraising for new winter supplies as well as taking donations of gently used ones.
Fundraising, to me, is such a powerful thing. This is because it allows huge communities of people, whether they have seen the problem firsthand, or just learned about it through this description to come together and do amazing things.
With a combination of donated supplies, donated funds, and donated returnables, we can help so many Waterford Students and their family members this year to enjoy a warm and safe winter.
This project, Coats for Kids, aims to see a larger number of warmer students in our community this winter. I aim to see more warm students in our community this winter. Anything you would be willing to donate gets us one step closer to this.
Thank you so much for your support!
Organizer and beneficiary
Rachel Rochford
Organizer
Waterford, MI
Lisa Rochford
Beneficiary
