OKCPS Needs Help To Buy Coats For Children In Need

The fall temps are on the way and before we know it, winter weather will move in.  That means a cold walk to school or at the bus stop for thousands of metro children.

So far this year, the Oklahoma City Public Schools District (OKCPS) has raised $10,000 through "Operation Warm." That money will buy coats for kids who can't afford them, but that dollar amount isn't even close to helping everyone in need.

It may feel like summer outside, but 8-year-old Ilona Rios can't wait for winter. The coats she and her sister got last year get two thumbs up. They both attend Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary. Last year, all students at the school received a new coat through "Operation Warm."

 “It's a basic necessity just like food or water or electricity, you know. A child needs to be warm during the winter so to have that just means a lot,” Christina Reeder said.  

It means a great deal because so many are in need. Nearly 90 percent of the estimated 40,000 students in the Oklahoma City Public Schools District live at or below the poverty line. A warm coat doesn't come easy.

"We'd like to be able to buy coats for all 40,000+, but 7,000 is what we've identified as kids who are in dire need of having a coat just to get through winter," OKCPS Spokesperson Mark Myers said.

The district is teaming up with "Operation Warm." The goal is to raise $140,000 by the end of September to pay for new coats.

A donation of $20 will dress one child. A $500 donation will cover an entire class, and $5,000 coats an entire school.

The district is asking for cash donations because it doesn't have storage to take in any donated coats. They're also looking for volunteers to pass out those coats to students once they're purchased.

See how you can help.