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Alison Stewart: This is All Of It on WNYC. I'm Alison Stewart. We continue our giving theme, considering tomorrow is Giving Tuesday. One of the ways we are getting in in spirit internally here at WNYC is that All Of It, our show, has partnered with New York Cares for an internal coat drive so that our colleagues can donate gently used coats right where they work. Many of you may be doing the same thing in your workplace or place of worship or community center or school.

We want to provide a space on air for you to shout out the coat or food drive that you're participating in, or if you're a place where people in need can get clothing or food of any kind, our phone lines are open. 212-433-9692, 212-433-WNYC. We want to know all the ways All Of It listeners are helping people stay warm and fed this winter. 212-433-9692, 212-433-WNYC. If you have a flyer, take a picture of it and tag us on our socials at All Of It WNYC, or if you have a website that you run, you can tag us and we will collect the list and we'll put it in our website or amplify it on our social media site and then everybody can figure out ways that they can help as well.

212-433-9692, 212-433-WNYC. Joining me now is my ride along for this conversation is Beth Amodio, the president of the nonprofit, One Warm Coat. One Warm Coat partners with groups all around the country to get coats into the hands of people who need them. Beth, welcome to All Of It.

Beth Amodio: Thank you so much for having me.

Alison Stewart: How does this work? How does One Warm Coat provide coats?

Beth Amodio: We actually rely on thousands of volunteers across the country. I'm really excited to have a chance to talk with you today and have your listeners hear how they can get involved. The way that we work is people volunteer to hold a coat drive and they can register to hold one on our website, and we provide all of the resources to make that possible. Then the coats they collect are directed to one of our nonprofit partners. We have 1,500 nonprofit organizations across the country who receive the coats and distribute them directly to the people in need.

Alison Stewart: When you think about it, all of your different partnerships, everybody involved, guesstimate, how many coats did One Warm Coat provide or facilitate people getting last year?

Beth Amodio: 550,000, and that was from over 5,000 coat drives that took place. Everything from individual volunteers of all ages, we even have kids who hold coat drives, to really big companies and national retail brands holding coat drives helped us to get that large number of coats last year.

Alison Stewart: You work around the country, what are some of the organizations that you work with in New York City, in the New York area?

Beth Amodio: There's dozens of coat drives happening in New York City right now, as you can imagine. One of the cool things we have is a map where anyone who Google's ''donate a coat near me,'' really anywhere in the country, is going to be taken to our map. They can go put in their zip code and find a coat drive near them. Those also have a lot of good shopping opportunities this time of year. All of the local J. Crew retail locations are collecting coats and you can get $25 off. Lands' End is collecting coats, Todd Snyder, Duluth Trading, any of those places where you can go, take a coat, and actually get a discount while you're shopping for holiday gifts as well.

Alison Stewart: When you're donating a coat, tell us about the condition it should be in. What are some do's and don'ts?

Beth Amodio: Great question. We always ask that the coats that are donated be clean and wearable, and that means no tears or stains, or holes. I always say, if you wouldn't put it on yourself or put it on your child to wear out for the day, please don't donate it. There are some solutions for people who don't want to just throw those away as well.

Alison Stewart: Such as?

Beth Amodio: We partner with an organization called Retold Recycling, and they have bags that you can order from them, fill with any kind of textile that you want, and mail it back to them, and then they make sure that something positive happens with those textiles rather than just going into the landfill.

Alison Stewart: Yes, I've used some of those bags for holy socks. It's just like the socks is -- [crosstalk]

Beth Amodio: Yes. Exactly.

Alison Stewart: - the hole is a little bit too big you can't quite fix it, you've tried. Yes.

Beth Amodio: Yes. That's completely it.

Alison Stewart: [laughs] My guest is Beth Amodio, president and CEO of One Warm Coat. We're talking about ways we can help our fellow New Yorkers this time of year, hopefully, all year long, but it's Giving Tuesday tomorrow. We want to hear about how you are giving back this holiday season. 212-433-9692, 212-433-WNYC. You can text to us or you can join us on air and tell us what's going on. Like Leon, who is calling in from Manhattan. Hi, Leon, thanks for calling All Of It.

Leon: Hey, Alison, thanks for having me.

Alison Stewart: You are on the air.

Leon: Fabulous. I'm glad to be here. I'm the executive director of a nonprofit called House of Good Deeds, much like One Warm Coat or New York Cares. We collect donations. We have vehicles. We drive all around New York City. We collect items like clothing, shoes, housewares, and food, and we give them away for free to anyone in need.

Alison Stewart: If people want to know more about House of Good Deeds, where can they go?

Leon: HouseofGood Deeds.org. We are also the House of Good Deeds on Facebook and Instagram. We love volunteers and we love people with ideas who want to volunteer with us.

Alison Stewart: Leon, how did you get into this work?

Leon: Oh boy, it's a long story which you don't have time for, I don't think. Long story short, my fiance took ill and was diagnosed with terminal cancer the day after we got engaged. So many people came from all over the world to help us. This was our way of paying it forward by teaching people how easy and important it was to make a difference in other people's lives.

Alison Stewart: Leon, thank you so much for calling in, and thank you for the work that you do. Let's talk to Jennifer from Vernon, New Jersey. Hi, Jennifer. Thanks for calling All Of It.

Jennifer: Thank you so much, Alison. I am calling on behalf of Harvest House in Sussex, New Jersey. My mom has worked as a trustee of and on the board for many, many years. It was started by students at the Vernon Township High School to feed the hungry and poor of our western side of Sussex County, New Jersey. About 360 days a year Harvest House feeds Monday through Friday, about 60 to, it's a growing number, to 80 clients a day a hot meal and food to take home that can be warmed up and anybody who shows up at the doors gets a hot meal Monday through Friday in Sussex, New Jersey.

Alison Stewart: Jennifer, are you part of the organization?

Jennifer: I have done a lot of the volunteering and doing social media and marketing, spreading the word for my mom who's not the best about the socials, but I've done a lot of the work for some of the fundraisers. Right now, they're running the poinsettia sale where you can get a fresh poinsettia for your home, and a large part of the money goes back to Harvest House. They get it right from the greenhouses in Pine Island, New Jersey, but you can find them HarvestHouseNJ.org and you can make a donation on the website as well. Any donations.

Alison Stewart: Before I let you go, what made you get involved? What makes you do this work?

Jennifer: I'm like your former caller, anytime you are touched by tragedy in your life, you realize just how grateful you are to see another day. I think that that motivates some people to do good. I think that by spreading that good, it makes the world a better place.

Alison Stewart: Jennifer, thank you so much for calling in. We are pre-gaming Giving Tuesday, which is tomorrow. We want to know how you are giving back this holiday season. If you're participating in a coat or a can drive or a food drive and you want to shout it out, our phone lines are open to you. 212-433-9692, 212-433-WNYC. You can join us on air or you can text to us if you know of any organization or you're involved in any organization that is giving back. If you take a picture of the flyer that you send out from your organization or maybe there's a screenshot of a website or if there's an Instagram you want to tag and tag us, we will amplify it. We are at All Of It WNYC.

Joining me for this conversation is Beth Amodio, president and CEO of One Warm Coat. I've asked everybody and so I want to ask you this, Beth, how did you get involved in this work you do?

Beth Amodio: This has been my lifelong career. Not One Warm Coat, but working in the nonprofit space. I grew up with my parents who were really, really involved in the community doing lots of volunteer work, been doing mission trips with my parents since I was a little kid, and this was just really what I always knew that I wanted to do.

Alison Stewart: Now that you've been with One Warm Coat, what trends have you noticed in your work in terms of need?

Beth Amodio: Oh, it's absolutely been an astronomical growth in terms of the number of requests that we're getting from agencies who need coats for the people they serve. We've seen, especially over the last three years the numbers have increased probably 50 to 70% across the board in terms of the actual number of people who are requiring assistance.

Alison Stewart: Has anything surprised you recently in terms of coat drives or people that your organization helps?

Beth Amodio: Well, I'm always surprised. I think both positively and negatively. I'm always surprised by the goodwill of human beings and the desire to help just like the callers that you've been talking to today. It always cheers me on to keep doing the work that we're doing. Then in the negative space, I'm just disappointed to see how the need continues to increase year after year. Last year was a huge number of coats that we brought in, 550,000 coats, and still our partner agencies came back and said overwhelmingly they still did not receive enough coats.

Alison Stewart: What about New York City metro area? How does it differ from other parts?

Beth Amodio: New York City is obviously experiencing a great deal of need this year and every year, but this year in particular the stats say that New York has a poverty rate of 17% while the national average is 11%. The need here seems to be growing and it seems to be larger than the national average.

Alison Stewart: Has the increase in the number of migrants changed?

Beth Amodio: Yes.

Alison Stewart: Affected One Warm Coat?

Beth Amodio: Absolutely. We were already really trying to work harder than ever before to try to meet the needs in New York City, and then over the past couple of years, the number of migrants arriving have really increased the number of people requiring assistance. As you know, a number of the migrants are coming from warm weather environments. They're really not used to being in these cold temperatures and really need those warm coats and other types of outerwear.

Alison Stewart: Let's go to Elena calling in from Montclair on line one. Hi, Elena. Thanks for calling All Of It.

Elena: Hi. Thanks so much for taking my call.

Alison Stewart: You're on the air.

Elena: Okay, so I would like to shout out the Montclair Community Farms in Montclair, New Jersey. They are a program that provides nutritious food for thousands of members of our community and markets, but then they also have programs for children and adults, educational programs, and workshops. My two children loved playing with their chickens and helping to put the gardens to bed and learning about tulips and different bulbs. I'd just like to shout that group out.

Alison Stewart: Elena, how did you talk to your children about the work that the farm does in terms of-- [crosstalk]

Elena: Actually, they were the ones that talked to me about the work, which was really important.

Alison Stewart: Oh, that's interesting.

Elena: They are five and seven, and so they're the ones that taught me about the three sisters and how to-- The importance of having chickens and the importance of giving back to the community and providing this fresh produce for everyone because everyone deserves green on their plates.

Alison Stewart: Elena, thanks for calling in. I'm going to shout out one, Beth. There's a soup kitchen open every Sunday when most other soup kitchens in your city are closed. It's called the Welcome Table. It's at Xavier Mission in Union Square. They're amazing. They run an amazing program. They also have clothing as well. That's a place where people can volunteer or you can make contributions. I'm a big fan of the work that they do. Anything you would like to leave us with before we finish up?

Beth Amodio: If you do work with a nonprofit organization as a volunteer or as a team member, and you would like to receive coats through One Warm Coat to distribute to the clients you serve, please also visit our website, and it's free to register to become a nonprofit partner and to join our network.

Alison Stewart: I got a text. ''I love cooking meals from my local community fridge. It's a grassroots way to support your local community where city agencies fail with meals or grocery items. There's a map available for people to find one near them.'' Thanks for that text and thanks to Beth Amodio, President and CEO of One Warm Coat. Thanks for being with us.

Beth Amodio: Thank you so much for having me.

Alison Stewart: This is All Of It.

 

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