Endurance Athletics is proud to announce that we just wrapped up our first ever coat drive! Our goal was to help the children in our own backyard struggling with even keeping warm through these cold winter months, and we believe it was a huge success.
Read on for more information on why we did it, how we did it, and how you can help too.
An opportunity to help
In 2020 Endurance Athletics partnered with Racing for Recovery to sponsor and facilitate a youth fitness program for the children of That Neighborhood Church (TNC), in downtown Toledo.
The children of TNC’s school program are fun, bright, and absolutely hilarious. But they are also located in one of the hardest hit areas of not just Ohio, but the whole country.
With median household incomes below $14,000, Toledo’s 43604 zip code fell under the top 10 poorest zip codes in the nation in 2017. More recent census data continues to show a bleak reality for Toledo residents with 52% of adults and a staggering 80% of children below the poverty level.
As families struggle through poverty, priorities can shift to base survival. Many kids in our program showed up in the harsh winter without coats, hats, or gloves.
This made it impossible to hold outdoor activities, leaving kids cooped up inside when the weather didn’t cooperate. And this was a regular problem according to TNC staff.
We knew we wanted to help.
How we held the coat drive
We found four businesses in the Toledo area that volunteered to be drop sites for coats, and we put regular cardboard boxes outside.
Special thanks given to those businesses: MPS Group, Cooley Canal Yacht Club, Cribs to Crayons, and Kroger in Lambertville.
The coats began to roll in! Over a three-week period, we collected items as the boxes filled.
And on January 9th, Endurance Athletics donated close to 100 coats, hoodies, hats, scarves, and gloves to That Neighborhood Church for distribution to the community.
The takeaway
This act of kindness left us so happy and humbled. It was inspiring to see the coats stack up each week, knowing they would benefit families in our own backyard. Now these kids can be warm, safe, and able to play outside in any weather.
We’re all aware of poverty, but it’s still shocking to see the impact first-hand, as we did during our work at TNC. To see this level of poverty right down the road was heart-breaking.
And it’s a strong reminder that opportunities to help can present themselves in all areas of our lives. One of Endurance Athletics’ key tenants is exercising a Big Heart. The time and effort it takes to help others is usually minimal and worth every second.
To those who donated and made this coat drive a success, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. To That Neighborhood Church, we salute you for the opportunities you provide these kids every week.
How you can help, too
Subscribe to our newsletter and find us on social media so you don’t miss an opportunity to give back. We’ll regularly feature opportunities right here in Northeast Ohio and Southeast Michigan.
There are many ways to get involved right now. If you made it this far and want to go further, reach out for volunteer opportunities or donation information.
Many hands make light work. It is amazing what we can accomplish when we come together as a community.
