Worcester County Sheriff Lew Evangelidis presents Sutton resident Jason Rawinski with a special citation for collecting over 300 new and lightly used winter jackets on behalf of the Nichols College Student Alumni Society. The coats were delivered and donated together by Evangelidis and Rawinski to the Webster-Dudley Food Share
By Millbury Sutton Chronicle 12/30/2106
Worcester County Sheriff Lewis G. Evangelidis spent Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 visiting a number of greater Worcester area charities to distribute some much needed warm winter jackets.
The Sheriff ’s Coat Drive is an annual event that provides new or lightly used winter coats to families in need throughout Worcester County and is a collaborative effort between the Sheriff ’s Office of Community Corrections, Wachusett Mountain Ski Area, The Worcester County Reserve Deputy Sheriff ’s Association, Warmer Winters of Leominster, Twin City Cleaners of Dudley, Independent Cleaners of Fitchburg, as well as many other local businesses and community partners including Felters Mill, Matt’s at the Buzzer Barbershop and Care One of Millbury.
This year’s coat drive also got extra help from Sutton resident Jason Rawinski, who collected over 300 new and lightly used winter jackets on behalf of the Nichols College Student Alumni Society. The coats were delivered and donated together by Sheriff Evangelidis and Mr. Rawinski to the Webster-Dudley Food Share.
“We cannot thank Sheriff Evangelidis and Jason enough for coming today to deliver hundreds of winter coats,” said Webster- Dudley Food Share President James Alkire. “Receiving these much needed warm jackets helps us provide an invaluable service for those less fortunate in our community, especially during the cold winter months.”
This year’s coat drive also received a huge boost in early October with a special donation from Wachusett Mountain Ski Area of over 1,500 ski jackets.
“With the tremendous donation of over 1,500 winter jackets from Wachusett Mountain Ski Area and the Crowley Family, we were able to have a huge head start on our successful coat drive which was able to help so many families in our community. We can not thank them enough for their overwhelming generosity,” said Evangelidis.
During the distribution week, Evangelidis paid a special visit to over a dozen local charitable organizations to personally hand deliver thousands of winter jackets including the Gardner Community Action Center, Cleghorn Neighborhood Center & Our Fathers House of Fitchburg, Spanish American Center of Leominster, Rutland Food Pantry, St. Anne’s Human Services of Shrewsbury, Rhodes House of Recovery in Millbury, Webster-Dudley Food Share, TradeWinds Clubhouse, Catholic Charities & Arc of Hope of Southbridge as well as St. John’s Food for the Poor Program, The Mustard Seed, Veteran’s Inc. & The Net of Compassion of Worcester.
“During the holiday season, the Sheriff ’s annual Winter Coat Drive helps to ensure that local families who may be in need are provided with an adequate winter coat. With over 3,500 winter jackets collected during this year’s coat drive, we were able to help more families and children in need than in year’s past,” Evangelidis said. “As the cold weather months approach and especially during this difficult economic time, it is extremely important to do all we can to help those in our community who may be less fortunate.”
