A lesser known program administered by the Old Newsboys is the Warm Hands Warm Hearts coat and boot program. A child missing school or play because they don’t have a coat or pair of boots is both tragic and very easy to fix. The ONB issues referrals schools across Genesee County to provide coats and boots to children in need.

Once identified by school counselors or staff, the child comes to the ONB office to receive a new coat, a gift card for shoes, or both. In the 2008/ 2009 school year, the ONB provided 660 boys and girls with new coats and 733 with new boots or shoes.

With each coat (and often with the boot gift card) children receive hats, mittens and scarves from the mitten tree—which are hand knitted or crochet pieces donated by the community.

For more information about this program, contact us.

A big thank-you to our friends at the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Outstate Michigan for their program support!