Please join Santa Clara Valley Legal Aid’s fourth annual Winter Coat Drive. On December 21st we will be giving away new warm winter coats to needy children of the Santa Clara Valley who are standing outside in line in Fillmore to receive their toy from Santa. Please donate either checks or brand new coats with hoods and with tags. There are no “administrative” costs. You send the checks and my teams go and buy the coats. We all feel the effects of this economy and know that there are very financially challenged families who cannot provide warmth for their kids this winter. If you would like to join this community of generosity, you can send checks to: Winter Coat Fund, c/o Laura Bartels, 540 Sespe Avenue, Suite #2, Fillmore, CA 93015, or to Winter Coat Fund at the Santa Clara Valley Bank, 527 Sespe Avenue, Fillmore, CA 93015 Account #002-112027 or go to wintercoatdrive.com and make a donation using Paypal. Your donation is tax-deductible if made through the web-site as the Volunteer Legal Service Program has allowed us an umbrella of their 501c(3) status.

Dear Friends, Thank you so much for your interest in supporting for our local Coat Drive to raise enough money to put a coat on every child that comes through the line this Christmas in North Fillmore, Ventura County.
This project idea started 5 years ago when I was watching the kids waiting with anticipation to see Santa at the North Fillmore Community Storefront for the Fillmore Volunteer Fire Department toy giveaway. Looking at the line, none of the kids had on coats. My mind judged immediately “Did the children forget their coats? They knew it was cold and that the wait was long.” The line snaked as the little boy tucked into his mother and the realization hit me like the cold wind- the little boy didn’t forget his coat. He doesn’t have a coat.

Please join Santa Clara Valley Legal Aid’s fourth annual Winter Coat Drive. On December 21st we will be giving away new warm winter coats to needy children of the Santa Clara Valley who are standing outside in line in Fillmore to receive their toy from Santa. Please donate either checks or brand new coats with hoods and with tags. There are no “administrative” costs. You send the checks and my teams go and buy the coats. We all feel the effects of this economy and know that there are very financially challenged families who cannot provide warmth for their kids this winter.

If you would like to join this community of generosity, you can send checks to: Winter Coat Fund, c/o Laura Bartels, 540 Sespe Avenue, Suite #2, Fillmore, CA 93015, or to Winter Coat Fund at the Santa Clara Valley Bank, 527 Sespe Avenue, Fillmore, CA 93015 Account #002-112027 or go to wintercoatdrive.com and make a donation using Paypal. Your donation is tax-deductible if made through the web-site as the Volunteer Legal Service Program has allowed us an umbrella of their 501c(3) status.

As Marion Wright Edelman, the founder of the Children’s Defense Fund says: “We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily differences we can make which, over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee.”

When you place a warm coat on cold little shoulders, you know that a warm coat makes a big difference.

Thank You
Laura Bartels, Director, Santa Clara Valley Legal Aid, 805-524-1934.