The Mission: How It Happens
Warm The Children is a family of 26 non-profit organizations whose missions are the same: providing new winter clothing and footwear for their community’s neediest children. All 26 organizations are IRS 501 (c) 3 tax-exempt. For more information, please email us at info@warmthechildren.org
The recipe for Warm The Children is simple: A local newspaper and/or a service organization (like a Kiwanis or Rotary Club) asks its community for monetary donations to be used to purchase new winter clothing and footwear for local children in need. Families to be served are identified by local social service agencies or public-school personnel.
All dollars received go to the children; sponsoring organizations absorb all administrative expenses.
The shopping is done either in person at a local retailer or online. For shopping in person, volunteers meet and assist the families as they shop and during check out. The family leaves with their new items.
For online shopping, families make their selections from a preapproved retailer. Warm The Children submits their order and their items are shipped directly to their home free of charge.
All purchases are paid for with donated dollars.
How To Donate
Donors may send checks to the designated address on the spreadsheet (below), or make online donations via the provided link.
Does Your Family Need Warm The Children’s Help?
Families wishing to be served by Warm The Children must live in or near a program location (see listing below). Email or contact as directed.
How It Came To Be
Warm The Children was founded in Torrington, Connecticut in 1988 by newspaper publisher Mack W. Stewart. On the way to work one snowy November day he saw children waiting for their school bus. It was cold and windy and the kids weren’t dressed for the weather. Stewart wondered how, in rich Connecticut, could there be children going to school without proper winter clothing. He’d worked for a newspaper in Troy, N.Y. which had a program providing new winter clothing for children in need. Stewart felt something similar was needed in Torrington. He discussed his idea with local social workers and fellow employees; all said, “go for it.” One fellow employee suggested calling it Warm The Children.
In the first year, the program raised $20,000 and served 249 children.
In 1991 Stewart moved to Middletown, CT to manage that community’s newspaper. He brought Warm The Children with him; it was an immediate success. But in 1993, Stewart was asked to resign because he was unable to reverse the Middletown newspaper’s economic woes.
Rather than go looking for another newspaper job, Stewart decided to spend the rest of his life urging newspapers and their communities to embrace Warm The Children.
Today’s 26 Warm The Children programs (see attached spreadsheet for details) spend $800,000 annually on new winter wear for 10,000+ local children in need.
Warm The Children program location | Family need help? Email or contact: | Newspaper & 501 (c) (3) Sponsor/partner | EIN | Donation checks payable to: | Mail checks to: | On-line donation: | Contact person | Contact person(s) email: |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti MI | mkcstewart61@gmail.com | Kiwanis Club of Ann Arbor Foundation | 36-6099103 | Warm The Children | Warm The Children % Old National Bank 2723 State St., #100 Ann Arbor MI 48104 | a2kiwanisfoundation.org/warmthechildren | Mary Stewart | mkcstewart61@gmail.com |
Auburn NY | CAP Cayuga/Seneca, 315-253-1703 | The Citizen & Auburn Rotary Community Foundation | 01-0863403 | Warm The Children | Warm The Children % Auburn Rotary Club P.O. Box 446 Auburn NY 13021 | auburnrotaryny.org | Mike Trapani | michael.trapani@outlook.com |
Barton (Orleans County) Vermont | Elementary Schools at beginning of school year | the Chronicle & Warm The Children Orleans County | 51-0631277 | Warm The Children | Warm The Children c/o The Chronicle P.O. Box 660, Barton VT 05822 | not avaible | Tracy Davis Pierce | thechronicleinc@gmail.com |
Bennington Vermont | outreachadvocate@pavebennington.com | Bennington Banner & Project Against Violent Encounters (PAVE) | 03-0285583 | PAVE, Warm The Children in memo line | PAVE, P.O. Box 227, Bennington VT 05201 | pavebennington.networkforgood.com/pro… | Loni Myran | outreachadvocate@pavebennington.com |
Carlisle PA | Local social service agencies and school districts | The Sentinel & Carlisle Kiwanis Club Foundation | 20-1011264 | Warm The Children | Warm The Children, P.O. Box 862, Carlisle PA 07013 | carlislekiwanis.org | Barrie Ann George & Brooke Wagner | WTCCarlisle@gmail.com |
CT River Valley & Shoreline towns | Town Social Service office | Zip 06 Publications, Shoreline Times, & Community Foundation of Middlesex County | 06-1477711 | Warm The Children Shoreline/CFMC | Warm The Children Shoreline Fund, c/o Community Foundation of Middlesex County, 49 Main Street, Middletown CT. 06452 | middlesexcountycf.org | Beebee Miller or Dick Campbell | Beebe: lenb2@sbcglobal.net Dick: rpc06475@sbcgolbal.net |
Eagle River WI | Vilas County News Review office, 425 W. Mill St., Eagle River. Applications on table at entrance | Vilas County News Review & Eagle River Rotary Foundation | 22-3931662 | Warm The Children | Warm The Children, P.O. Box 1929, Eagle River WI 54521 | vcnewsreview.com | Toni Ruthven | tonir@vcnewsreview.com |
Glens Falls NY | Salvation Army, 518-792-1960 | The Post-Star and Glens Falls Rotary Club Foundation, Inc. | 14-1765482 | Warm The Children | Warm The Children, c/o Post Star, P.O. Box 2157, Glens Falls NY 12801 | glensfallsrotary.com/page/make-a-dona… | Brian Corcoran or David Bogue | bcorcoran@poststar.com dbogue@roadrunner.com |
Gowanda NY | Elementary, middle, high school nurses | Gowanda Pennysaver, Community Source & LOVE INC of the Greater Gowanda Area | 01-0677260 | Warm The Children | Warm The Children, 15 W. Main Street, Gowanda NY 14070 | gowandaloveinc.org | Katie Swanson | swansonk03@gmail.com |
Greenfield MA | Elementary Schools or Katelyn Mailloux, Franklin County Community Action, 413-475-1555 | The Recorder & Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts | 22-3089640 | Warm The Children | Warm The Children, % The Recorder, 14 Hope Street, Greenfield MA 01301 | communityfoundation.org/donate-now | Pat Maleno | pmaleno@gazettenet.com |
Guilford/Madison CT | Town department of social services | Zip 06 Publications & Shoreline Times Madison Rotary Foundation | 06-6075666 | Warm The Children | Warm The Children, % Madison Rotary Foundation, Attn. Janet Sandella, Treas., P.O. Box 355, Madison CT 06443 | madisonctrotary.com | Kristen Ryan | kristen@nehrc.com |
Hamburg NY | Hamburg, Frontier, Lake Shore, Eden and N. Collins school districts | Rotary Club of Hamburg Foundation | 26-3268906 | Warm The Children | Warm The Children, P.O. Box 340, Hamburg NY 14075 | hamburgrotaryclub.org/sitepage/warm-t… | Liz Angelbeck | lizangelbeck@gmail.com |
Hillsdale MI | Susan Stout, s.stout@abouthccf.org | Hillsdale County Community Foundation | 38-3001297 | Warm The Children | Warm The Children, P.O. Box 276, Hillsdale MI 49242 | abouthccf.org/donate | Susan Stout | s.stout@abouthccf.org |
Hopkinsville KY | Salvation Army, 270-885-9633 | Kentucky New Era & Kiwanis Club of Hopkinsville Foundation | 27-1961925 | Warm The Children | Warm The Children % Kentucky New Era, P.O. Box 729, Hopkinsville KY 42241 | Warm the Children | Kentucky New Era | Mike Kissner | mekissner@gmail.com |
Keyser WV | Dayla Harvey, 304-788-9099 | News Tribune & Mineral County Family Resource Network | 55-0767633 | Warm The Children | 251 1/2 W. Piedmont Street, Keyser WV 26726 | mineralcountyfrn.org | Dayla Harvey | vc4mincoasa@gmail.com |