At areas around the Capital District, residents will once again find drop boxes for Katie’s Koats to provide warmth to the homeless and veterans around the area during winter months.
Drop boxes can be found at Crossgates Mall, county offices in Albany, the Homeless and Travelers Aid Society at 138 Central Ave. in Albany and at any Best Cleaners dry cleaning services locations. The program asks for used coats, which will be taken from the bins to Best Cleaners to be sure the coats are clean when handed out to the people who need them.
“I started Katie’s Koats three years ago in hopes to help keep veterans and their families warm,” said Kaitlyn Drobner at this year’s Katie’s Koats announcement at Crossgates Mall on Thursday, Nov. 13. “The first year, we collected a little over 1,200 coats, and that was absolutely astonishing, because I really didn’t have a goal going into this. And then last year, we topped that at 3,500.”
Katie’s Koats partners with county officials and the Homeless Travelers Aid Society to help as many people as possible during the winter.
Last year, the drive began to make a push for children’s coats to be donated, since when a veteran is in need, their family is as well, said Liz Hitt with the Homeless and Travelers Aid Society. This year, Hitt hopes to see more women’s coats in the mix.
“These coats go not just to male veterans. When you’re thinking about donating a coat, while we have lots of men who need coats, we also have women veterans. … Last year, too, for the first time, we had lots of coats donated for children. Veterans have children. They want to see their children in good coats,” said Hitt.
Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy, who has been backing Katie’s Koats since it began, said he hopes to see 5,000 coats going to veterans this year, which would be more than four times the amount of coats donated in 2011. He said a drive like this is an opportunity for the community to give back to local veterans.
“Unfortunately, more and more veterans are walking the streets without the proper clothes, so this type of drive out there really enforces an opportunity to give back a little bit, to pass it on,” McCoy said.
The drive takes coats that people no longer wear, either due to a style that has gone out of fashion or they have just not been used for a while. A lot of people hold onto clothes they will never wear again, Hitt said.
Since the program began in 2011, the program has grown exponentially, according to Hitt, expanding naturally on its own over the past years. However, she said everyone hopes the program continues to grow even more.
“As Mr. McCoy said, he would like to collect 5,000, and as I told him, I never really had a goal, but 5,000 would be an absolutely amazing number,” said Drobner.
