Even though we’ve had a very forgiving and mild winter, I think we all know harsher weather is right around the corner. On Monday, December 21, Operation Warm, a nationwide non-profit, partnered with Wawa and Operation Brotherly Love to donate 370 brand new coats to students of the Horatio B. Hackett Elementary School (2161 E York St.).

The drive was organized by Tessa Donnelly, a teacher leader at Hackett, Principal Todd Kimmel, Adam Schall, Wawa’s senior director of strategy and supply chain, and Frank DiMauro, CFO of SNJ Today.

Schall describes Operation Warm as “A grassroots movement, a way to give back to the community… it’s these kinds of necessities that we all take for granted.” The nonprofit has been collecting funds since 1998 to distribute new coats to children. It’s important that the coats are new.

“They are all brand new coats and there’s a kind of sense of pride to owning them,” DiMauro said.

DiMario and Schall started giving back 16 years ago. Beginning with an idea they conjured up while working in a homeless shelter, the duo’s plan morphed into Operation Brotherly Love. Sometime around their nine year mark they received some positive press about their work and were featured on the local news. Wawa’s CEO and Mayor Michael Nutter were among those watching the news at home when Operation Brotherly Love was spotlighted. Both reached out to Operation Brotherly Love and asked how they could help. The coat drive at the The Hackett School is a such product of this partnership.

This is the second year of the coat drive that Operation Warm has aided those in the Hackett community. Last year the organization donated enough coats for students in grades K – 3. This year, however, more than 370 brand new coats were purchased for students in every grade.

“We want to show that good things are happening in our schools,” Donnelly said.