Coat drive in Raleigh aims to help 500 children in need

RALEIGH (WTVD) -- For one community center director in Raleigh, spotting a few kids at the bus stop on a cold morning was all it took to help.

"A couple years back I had gone to work early and there were a couple of kids at the bus stop and it was freezing that day, and they didn't have a coat," Grady Bussey explained.

"I asked them, 'Why don't you have a coat?'" Bussey told ABC11. "And they said they didn't have one,"

So, he decided to change that by starting a children's coat drive called Coats Cause We Care. As the Center Director of the Sgt. Courtney T. Johnson Community Center, Bussey began collecting the coats at his Raleigh center. It didn't take long for the City of Raleigh Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Resources to put up bins at nearly a dozen across the city.

The goal is to collect 500 coats by Saturday, Nov. 19 before they are handed out from 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.

"It's an amazing event because every year we always get children or parents that come out and it took a stranger to say they took time to donate, and they donate!" Bussey explained.

"Coats Cause We Care" is a community service event where individuals, private and public sector organizations that care about their community provide new or gently used/clean coats for children in the Raleigh area.

Volunteers are needed to organize the coats on Friday, Nov. 18 at the Sgt. Courtney T. Johnson Community Center from 2 - 8 p.m. Volunteers are also needed to help registration and find appropriate sizes for the children on Nov. 19.

The coat giveaway event is Nov. 19, 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. at the Sgt. Courtney T. Johnson Community Center 1801 Proctor Street Raleigh, N.C. 27610. For more information, please call Grady Bussey at (919) 831-6719.

Donations are being accepted at the following locations:

• Anne Gordon Center For Active Adults 101 Spring Forest Road

• Barwell Road Community Center 3935 Barwell Road

• Courtney T. Johnson Center 1801 Proctor Road

• Brier Creek Community Center 10810 Globe Road

• Lions Park Community Center 516 Dennis Avenue

• Greystone Recreation Center 7713-55 Leadmine Road

• Lake Lynn Community Center 7921 Ray Road

• Laurel Hills Community Center 3808 Edwards Mill Road

• Marsh Creek Community Center 3050 New Hope Road

• Abbotts Creek 9900 Durant Road

• Sanderford Rd. Community Center 2623 Sanderford Road