NEW YORK CARES SALUTES STUDENTS AND ORGANIZATIONS FOR COLLECTING THE MOST COATS DURING 23^rd ANNUAL COAT DRIVE 

Bronx Students and NYPD Precinct in the Bronx recognized for collecting largest number of coats.

New York Cares and presenting sponsor Health Plus today announced the winners of the Winter Warmth Awards which recognize individuals and organizations that made the largest donations to the 23rd Annual New York Cares Coat Drive. Learning Tree Prep School in the Bronx collected the most coats in the youth division and the 50^th Precinct in the Bronx gathered the most coats out of all the NYPD precincts. Other award winners include: St. John’s University, Vornado Realty Trust, Storage Post Self Storage, the New York Mets and Toshiba America.

“The individuals and organizations we honor in the Winter Warmth Awards helped us collect and distribute 77,000 coats, helping almost 20,000 more men, women and children than last year,” said Gary Bagley, Executive Director of New York Cares.  “We’re grateful to everyone who supported the New York Cares Coat Drive. New Yorkers dug deep to help their neighbors in need, and their generosity was a lifeline for thousands of people in our community.” 

The New York Cares Coat Drive is an annual lifeline for New York’s neediest citizens during the cold winter months. The Drive collects gently used adult and children’s coats during November and December throughout the metropolitan area, and distributes them to struggling men, women and children at homeless shelters, community organizations, and agencies for senior citizens. 

The 2011 Winter Warmth Awards Winners include:

• NYPD Awards: These awards recognize the NYC Police Department’s continued support of the New York Cares Coat Drive.  NYPD precincts collected more than 24,000 coats in 2011, 32% of the total collected citywide.
• First Place - NYPD Award: 50^th Precinct for collecting 1,375 coats (Bronx).
• Second Place - NYPD Award: 24^th Precinct for collecting 345 (Manhattan).
• Third Place - NYPD Award: 104^th Precinct for collecting 344 coats (Queens).
• Top Youth Group Coat Collection to Learning Tree Prep School in the Bronx for collecting 300 coats.
• Top Civic Coat Collection to St. John’s University for collecting 500 coats.
• Top Corporate Coat Collection to Vornado Realty Trust for collecting 1,168 coats.
• Largest New Coat Collector to Storage Post Self Storage for collecting 2,195 coats.
• Largest One Day Coat Collection to the New York Mets for collecting 1,592 in one day.
• Special Recognition Award to Toshiba America for their generous support of the Coat Drive.

New York Cares’ Youth Service Clubs, which offer volunteer opportunities to teens in the city’s public schools, collected a total of 615 coats.  The students at the Youth Service Club at Mott Hall High School (M304) won the NY Mets Warm Up Challenge by collecting 100 coats.  This spring, the teens from Mott Hall High School will have an on-field honor at a home game for giving back to their community. 

The New York Cares Coat Drive, presented by Health Plus, is one of the largest of its kind in the United States. New York Cares has collected 1.5 million winter coats for men, women and children in need throughout the city since 1989.   This year, New York Cares added twice as many public sites and started the Coat Drive two weeks earlier to meet unprecedented need.   

“Health Plus is pleased once again to sponsor The New York Cares Coat Drive,” said Ada Rodriguez, Chief Marketing Officer of Health Plus. “The mission and values of New York Cares are so similar to ours. We both offer coverage to New Yorkers in need -- we provide healthcare; they provide winter warmth. It was a privilege to partner with them on this extraordinary initiative.”

Other organizations that held special events and collected large numbers of coats during this year’s Drive included:  NYC Service, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, Lincoln Square Business Improvement District’s Winter’s Eve, A Fabolous Way Foundation’s ‘3 Kings Coat Drive’, Hang it “All on the Line with Joe Zee,” Egypt’s ‘Give Back Tour’ and 107.5 WBLS-FM Radio, Macy's Fur Vault, Oz Moving and Storage, Weatherproof Garment Company, St. John’s United Methodist Church, CUNY Department of Human Resources, Leman Manhattan Prep School, Saint David's School, Jodie Jacobs, Muslim American Society Service Corps, and the National Society of Black Engineers.

For more information about New York Cares, visit www.newyorkcares.org or call (212) 228-5000.