Thanks to the generosity of the Lamorinda community, needy local families will be able to enjoy the comfort of a warm coat and the joy of Christmas gifts this holiday season. Roughing It Day Camp, which sponsored the coat and toy drives, received hundreds of coats and over three barrels full of new toys during the month of December.
Items were collected for the US Marine Corp's Toys for Tots program and homeless families at the Bay Area Rescue Mission through the One Warm Coat program. Over 600 coats and 200 toys were brought into the Roughing It Day Camp office in Lafayette during the drive.
"We were thrilled by the support of local businesses, our Roughing It camp families, and Lamorinda schools in helping spreading the word" says Ann Woods, founder and director of Roughing It Day Camp, who coordinated the drive. "We're really impressed with the large amount of donations we received from the community in these tough economic times, and would like to thank everyone for their generosity. Families from schools such as Happy Valley, Burton Valley, Acalanes, OIS, and Stanley stopped by with numerous coats and toys. Plus local businesses had office drives and some people gave parties and asked everyone to bring donations of toys and coats. People came in with large bags brimming full of coats or toys. It was amazing!"
The mission of the U. S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program is to collect new, unwrapped toys during October, November and December each year, and distribute those toys as Christmas gifts to needy children in the community in which the campaign is conducted. The primary goal of Toys for Tots is to deliver, through a new toy at Christmas, a message of hope to less fortunate youngsters that will assist them in becoming responsible, productive, patriotic citizens.
One Warm Coat is national non-profit organization that supports and encourages coat drives. It helps individuals, groups, companies and organizations across the country collect coats and deliver them to local agencies that distribute the coats free to people in need. More than one million coats have been provided to those in need at no cost since its inception in 1992. All coats donated at Roughing It have been given to the Bay Area Rescue Mission for distribution to local people in need. THANK YOU from all of us at Roughing It!!
Items were collected for the US Marine Corp's Toys for Tots program and homeless families at the Bay Area Rescue Mission through the One Warm Coat program. Over 600 coats and 200 toys were brought into the Roughing It Day Camp office in Lafayette during the drive. 
Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA