Kids & Family

Acton Organizations Teaming Up to Collect Coats for Kids

Acton-Boxboro Youth Hockey and the Acton Lions Club have joined forces to make sure children in need have warm winter jackets.

In this season of giving, there are no shortage of stories about adults and children alike doing their part to help the less fortunate. This is one of those stories. 

Acton-Boxboro Youth Hockey is teaming up with the Acton Lions Club to run a drive collecting coats for underprivileged children in Massachusetts. 

The drive extend through the holiday season -- from Thanksgiving up until New Year's Eve -- will utilize collection bins, direct donations and home-pickup to gather winter jackets for the Coats for Kids Foundation, which distributes the coats to children in need. 

Find out what's happening in Actonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“The AB hockey kids are collectively a great group that wants to help others," Joe Biggins, president of the Acton Lions Club, said in a press release. "There is a definite synergy between Acton kids who play outdoor sports and this cause.”  

The campaign will look to build on the success of last year, when the kids from AB collected almost 450 coats, including one team, the 2012 Pee Wee 1 squad, that contributed 88 coats toward that total, according to a press release. 

Find out what's happening in Actonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

While the younger hockey players will look to their own closets and ask for donations from community members, older kids from the AB Youth Hockey Program will hop in their cars to pickup coats directly from contributors around town. Additionally, locals might notice collection bins at places like Total Athletic Performance and the Acton Lions Club's annual Christmas Tree sale in the Ace Hardware parking lot. 

“AB town hockey has been such a big part of our family lives for so many years, that we all want to give a little back to ABYHA and a great cause," said Phil Wolf, an Acton Lions Club member and former ABYHA Coach. 

Expecting that the kids will have to dig a little deeper in their closets to exceed last year’s effort, a number of locals are pitching in in various ways, the press release said. 

For example, Joe Motzi, owner of Bella Famiglia Italian Ristorante and a former AB Midget 1 State Champion coach, is donating a pizza party to the effort. Other AB Hockey parent alumni, including Paul Cardarelli, Ingrid Joyce and Jodi Phelan have donated their sports photography skills. 

Anyone with coats to donate, can contact any AB Youth Hockey Player or email philwolf9@gmail.com to arrange pickup. 


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Acton