Neb. student organizes coat drive

ALLIANCE, Neb. — When it comes to school, Alliance High School senior Sydney Swanson is all about excellence. For the last three years, Swanson has put that same level of excellence into helping others.

Three years ago, while working with a young group of 4-H members after school, Swanson noticed many of the children did not have coats.

“It was the start of winter, and it really bothered me, so I contacted the Box Butte County 4-H Coordinator, Deb Kraenow, and she told me to do something about it,” Swanson said, “and that gave me the drive to do so.”

The Coats for Kids drive provides a way for families with good used children's winter coats to share them with families in need, she said.

“Young children grow quickly, and there are families that cannot afford a new coat each year for a growing child,” she said.

The first year she collected 175 coats and distributed them to the schools of Box Butte County to be handed out by teachers. During the second year, Swanson teamed up with a fellow Nebraska National Teenager Queen, Brooke Ludemann of North Platte, and together they collected 700 coats.

Last year she tried something new and held a distribution day at the Alliance High School gymnasium after compiling a list of all the families involved in the free or reduced lunch program.

“I then constructed and mailed out postcards to each and every one of them inviting them to take advantage of distribution day,” Swanson said. “It was such a great success.”

By the end of the day she had 250 coats left, which were taken to surrounding schools for distribution. Swanson said because of the success of the distribution day she will follow the same format again this year.

The “Coats for Kids” drive began last week and will run until Thursday, Dec. 10, with distribution day scheduled for Dec. 20.

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