Local orgs collect coat donations

Some local organizations in the Center Moriches area accepting donations from residents.

The items donated to these organizations include a variety of supplies and clothing that were then distributed to residents in the Center Moriches area who needed them to endure the winter.

Josephine Lunde, INTERFACE coordinator for the Town of Brookhaven Youth Bureau, shared a flyer containing details about the Town of Brookhaven’s Winter Coat Drive. 

The drive is being overseen by the INTERFACE Program, which is part of the Department of General Services’ Youth Bureau Division.  This drive started on Jan. 7 and will last until Feb. 7.

“This season, let’s make a difference by participating in our Winter Coat Drive and Give the Gift of Warmth,” the flyer reads. It also specified that the drive was collecting “new or gently used (size infant to adult) coats, scarves, gloves and hats,” as well as a list of locations accepting donations, which included the Moriches Bay Recreation Center in Center Moriches. 

St. John’s Episcopal Church warden Ed Champ detailed the church’s wintertime charity drive.

“[We’ve] been asking parishioners for coats for the past few months,” Champ said.  “We have a small section set aside for our community outreach for coats, clothes, hats, gloves, books [etc.]. We usually start in the fall, and will continue until the spring.  [It’s] a yearly occurrence… We are a very small church, and don’t have a lot of space for storage; however, we do stay in contact with other churches in our Deanery and will share excess with them.”

Wendy Tarkington, from the Presbyterian Church of the Moriches’ Food Pantry program, explained that though her church doesn’t host a specific charity drive in the winter, they accept and receive donations all year.

“[We] receive donations of clothing, bedding, homewares, and toys throughout the year and put them out for our clients to choose from every week,” Turkington said.  “In the winter months, we put coats we’ve collected over the warmer months, as well as new individual donations made as the weather cools, on specific tables, along with scarves, hats, and gloves/mittens that are also donated.”

The Rev. James D. Ryan, of the Lighthouse Mission, also detailed his organization’s charity initiatives.

“The Lighthouse Mission has been collecting coats and distributing coats for the past 32 years,” Pastor Ryan said.  “In fact, last year we gave out more than 4,500 coats! This winter, we expect even more people in need.  But Lighthouse Mission doesn’t just give out coats and clothes.  We are a mobile food pantry [too].  This past month alone, we were able to bless more than 11,000 people with food and clothing.”

The Town of Brookhaven’s Winter Coat Drive will end on Feb. 7.  St. John’s Episcopal Church will continue accepting donations until spring arrives.