Members of Omicron Delta Kappa, the Missouri Southern national leadership honors society, are preparing to collect donations for their annual One Warm Coat drive. The drive has been hosted by the organization since 2007 and has proven beneficial for local organizations.

“The coat drive has been very successful each year we have hosted it. Several large (40-gallon) plastic bags full of donated items are typically collected,” Michael Gourette, adviser for Omicron Delta Kappa said,

The drive began Nov. 10 and will go through the end of the day today. The donation boxes, recognizable by the large navy blue outline of a coat, have been spread throughout major buildings on campus, such as Webster, Billingsley, and Reynolds.

Members of the honors society are responsible for decoration, setup, publicity, gathering the donations, takedown and delivery of the coats to the charitable organizations. The only requirement given when collaborating with the One Warm Coat initiative is that the coats be given, not sold, to people in need.

“It is a great way for our members to get involved in the community and help organizations who need donations this time of year,” Allison Kean, current Treasurer of Omicron Delta Kappa and junior nursing major said.

Omicron Delta Kappa has donated coats and other winter clothing to organizations such as Bright Futures-Joplin and Watered Gardens.

Michael Garoutte stated that they chose to donate all larger sized clothing to Watered Gardens and smaller sizes to the Boys and Girl Club of Southwest Missouri based on their typical demands.

“Other organizations we contacted were Joplin and Carl Junction Bright Futures, Webb City CARES, and Crosslines. The other organizations would have happily received the donations, but when we chose the Boys and Girls Club and Watered Gardens, all were happy to know that the donations would go to a good cause,” Gourette added.

Clean and reusable coats, jackets, sweatshirts and other warm clothing items in all sizes are being accepted in donations boxes until 5 p.m. today.