Oct. 18--Saturday morning's biting cold, which at times tested the gloveless families huddled outside a University Village building, was Chicago's first taste of the upcoming winter season.
Luckily, relief was within reach: The dozens of families were in line to pick up new, free winter coats for their children.
"Sometimes we just have to (brave) this Windy City for our kids," said Breescha Williams, a mother of two from the Roseland neighborhood. She chuckled at the prospect of temperatures returning to the high 60s later this week.
"I'll say 'Hey, Mr. Doctor!' 'Cause that's what we're gonna need," she joked.
About 5,000 people gathered Saturday at the University of Illinois at Chicago Forum, where roughly 10,000 winter coats were distributed to Chicago Housing Authority families, donated by Pennsylvania-based nonprofit Operation Warm.
CHA residents began arriving before the event's 9 a.m. start time, forming a line that snaked around the building. Residents could request one coat for each child in their home under 14 years of age by making a reservation on the CHA's website, said Kristen Hamer, CHA's director of corporate and external partnerships. Surveys taken by CHA during past drives showed that each coat saves a family an average of $100.
Residents picked up their coats, which came in bright-colored plastic bundles, and then took their kids to visit various other programs offered to CHA families. Residents were eligible to get flu shots and a large bag stuffed with PepsiCo snack products.
And for the first time in the program's eight-year history, children had access to a vault of 12,000 books through First Book, a nonprofit that aims to give new books to children of low-income families. It seemed to be children's favorite program at the event, and one teenage girl struggled to stuff her fabric bag with all the fantasy chapter books she'd found.
While CHA officials said the children didn't get to pick out the color of the coats, color requests could be accommodated. For most kids, the color of their new coat was a surprise.
"Oh, it's yellow!" cried 7-year-old Jamari Booth, as he and his sisters removed their new coats from the white plastic bags they were handed. Jamari then flipped his coat to reveal its opposite side.
"And blue!" he shouted.
His grandmother, Frankie Harrison, takes Jamari and his two sisters, Jada and Janiyah, to the coat distribution every year. While it's tough reaching the venue from her South Side home because of traffic and crowded buses, receiving free coats each year for her growing grandchildren makes the trip worth it.
"It's a beautiful thing because these are what's going to keep them warm," she said. "I absolutely love it."
Operation Warm raises about $200,000 through sponsors like PepsiCo and Walgreen Co. to buy the coats from manufacturers. Each coat has a market value of about $50, Hamer said.
The coat bears an Operation Warm logo, and an inside patch reads "Made just for you." Operation Warm began including the detail in the coats after children at coat drives kept asking whether or not they'd be able to keep the coats they were given, Hamer said.
The organization plans to distribute 300,000 coats to kids in 47 states, said Richard Lalley, Operation Warm's executive director. The Chicago distribution event is the organization's largest, he said.
Williams, the Roseland mother of two, said she planned to wash the coat her 8-year-old son received last year and donate it. She said the coats are durable, long-lasting and a great option for low-income families.
"This means everything to me," she said. "Sometimes you just have struggles in life and can't afford things like these, down to the snacks. Lots of parents out there need these coats."
meltagouri@tribpub.com
