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Congratulations on an incredible year!
We've helped others beyond our greatest hopes! As we close out another record-breaking Fall and Winter, I have news of our shared achievements and news of our plans for the coming year. I hope you will take a few moments to read this newsletter and celebrate with us.
Numbers to amaze you:
- You and your teams registered over 3,000 coat drives with us!
- This year, more than 800,000 coats were collected and given away!
New ways we worked together:
- Red Heart Yarn crafters added scarves to coat drives everywhere.
- One Warm Coat's message was introduced to the audience of online gamers.
- Warm Coats + Warm Hearts introduced the College Edition of their coat drive AND reached the goal of collecting and giving away their 1 millionth coat! (A five-year achievement!)
- New friends have joined the conversation with us on Facebook and Twitter.
It was November 2001 (ten years ago) when I first heard a local radio call-in show about One Warm Coat and began to dream of "more." Since then, each year has shown me that "more" is possible. While more coats will always be needed, more people will help because they know about the need. Our goal was to make donating a coat easy so that more people would contribute. And one outcome is that the spirit of caring for others now binds more and more people together in communities across the land.
It has been a privilege to have worked with you all to grow One Warm Coat into the Organization that we are today. Hundreds of thousands of volunteers have embraced our movement, we are becoming a "household name" in many parts of the U.S., and we have provided the vital warmth of a free winter coat to over 3 million people in need!
Through it all, each of you has warmed my heart in a very special way. You have validated my belief that "more" is possible, and you have proved that a strong spirit of community is alive and growing in our country.
We now take our first steps into the next ten years! I am extremely pleased to announce that effective April 1, 2012, the role of President of One Warm Coat will be filled by Jennifer Stockard. With many years of experience in the world of nonprofits, Jennifer has the talent, skills and experience to help us grow. Even better, she has a heart that is filled with warmth!
The role I enter is Chair of the Board of Directors, through which I will be able to focus on our long-term goals.
I encourage all of you to welcome Jennifer in her new role - and to stay in touch - as we learn what more we can do together to warm communities... one coat at a time.
With heartfelt thanks,
Sherri
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