COATS FOR THE COMMUNITY 2026
Warm Coats, Warm Hearts, and a Wonderful Community Effort!
By Kathy Ryan
What an incredible success! This year’s Coats for the Community was a heartwarming example of what can happen when a community comes together to help those in need. Held on Friday, October 23, and Saturday, October 24, at the Cohoes Community Center, the event brought warmth, smiles, and a helping hand to hundreds of individuals and families preparing for the cold winter months.
Preparations began on Saturday, October 17, when our dedicated volunteers started setting up the clothing racks. By Monday morning, the sorting was in full swing! Volunteers worked throughout the week, sorting and organizing donations on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings, with an additional Tuesday evening session to give our working members an opportunity to join in the fun.
And what an amazing response we received! The generosity of our community was truly overwhelming! We collected an incredible number of coats, along with sweatshirts, heavy sweaters, fleece jackets, hats, scarves, gloves, mittens, and even boots. With sizes ranging from infants to adults, there was something warm and cozy for everyone!
When the doors opened on Friday afternoon, our shoppers were ready! We welcomed 138 households on Friday and another 73 on Saturday, serving a total of 211 households and providing winter clothing to 369 individuals! Most of our shoppers came from Cohoes, but we also welcomed families from Watervliet, Waterford, Green Island, Albany, Troy, and Latham.
Our outreach didn't stop there! On Saturday, additional coats and winter accessories were shared with representatives from Mary's Corner, the Giving Room, St. Joseph's House, the Green Island school nurse, and Catholic Charities, helping us extend our reach to even more people in need.
And not a single warm coat needed to go to waste! At the conclusion of the event, Pastor Charlie of Victory Church in Albany picked up the remaining coats and accessories. These items will be distributed to guests attending the church's free Thanksgiving dinner and to others in need throughout the community. What a wonderful way to keep the spirit of giving going!
Of course, none of this would have been possible without our fantastic team of volunteers! Members of the Ladies of Charity, the Angels from Albany, the Waterford Women's Club, two students from Cohoes High School, and a student from Christian Brothers Academy all pitched in to make the event a success. Our student volunteers were especially helpful, assisting shoppers and entertaining children while their parents selected winter clothing.
A very special thank-you goes to Holy Trinity for generously providing storage space for our clothing racks; to my wonderful co-chair, Shelby Blendell, for her dedication and hard work; and to her husband, Jim, who built and transported the racks. We are also extremely grateful to Beth Slezak of the Cohoes Senior Center, whose hospitality helps create such a warm, friendly, and welcoming atmosphere for our shoppers.
But perhaps the greatest reward of all was seeing so many happy shoppers leaving with warm coats, grateful smiles, and one less worry as winter approaches.
To every volunteer, donor, and supporter—THANK YOU! Your generosity, enthusiasm, and willingness to lend a helping hand made this year's Coats for the Community a tremendous success.
Together, we did more than distribute coats. We shared kindness, spread warmth, and reminded our neighbors that their community cares.
And that is what Coats for the Community is all about!
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