SIOUX CITY (KTIV) – Every year, the Sioux City Public Schools Foundation collects costs for students ahead of winter break.

But this year, a generous donation let the foundation go shopping to help “close the gap.”

Members from the Sioux City Public Schools Foundation, the Communications Team, and the Equity Department grabbed their carts and headed for the clothing section at Walmart.

Full carts and hearts on a mission to purchase coats for a certain group of students.

RELATED: Around Siouxland: Winter Coat Drive

“Sioux City has been very generous,” said Karen Harrison, Director of Development for Sioux City Public Schools Foundation.

Team members had lists in hand of sizes of all kinds, for all genders as requested by the district buildings.

Each cart is filled with puffy jackets, parkas, and down coats of all kinds.

Susana Mendez, an Equity Liason for the district joined the team for the shopping spree. She said, “I’m very excited because I know there’s a lot of need in the Community and I know these are going to good families and students.”

Harrison said there are about 300 kids in need of a winter coat right now, a high demand they’ve never seen before.

In total, there was around $13,000 donated to this drive to help purchase coats.

There was an anonymous $10,000 donation made. It’s a first for the winter drive, making this shopping spree possible.

Harrison said, “We want to really, truly, want to thank everybody from the bottom of our hearts for donating to this campaign.”

Within the next 24 hours, the 300-plus coats purchased on Thursday are going to be going directly to the students and right on the students’ backs.

As fast as these coats are purchased, they’ll be out to the schools by the time winter break starts, given out anonymously.

Mendez explained the distribution process, “When a student comes to school with a really thin sweater, and they don’t bring a coat every day. The teachers can tell, and that’s when they reach out to us that a student might be in need of a coat.”

Mendez added that there are a lot of new families that enter the district at all times of the year for the registration process, sometimes the families are wearing short sleeves in the winter, and open-toed sandals on a dreary day. That’s another moment when they have the coats ready to hand out to the students when there is a need.

“It’s hard for kids to learn when their basic needs are not being met. Being warm, knowing where a child is going to spend the night, and where the next meal comes from. Those are adult problems kids shouldn’t have to have. Thank you, Siouxland, for helping us take care of our kids,” said Harrison.

By the end of the shopping trip, over ten carts were full of coats, loaded up to head to the district for sorting and then to the schools to be distributed.

“Education is everyone’s business because it’s in everyone’s business,” Harrison explained.

This annual winter clothing drive not only collected coats but also new hats, gloves, boots, sweaters, and pants for all ages.

For more information about the mission of Sioux City Public Schools Foundation call 712-279-6667 ext. 6835.

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