By Maria Prato-Gaines, Staff Writer
JAMESBURG — In its fourth year, the Baby It’s Cold Outside coat drive is gearing up to keep thousands of New Jerseyans warm this winter.
Its two sponsors, Gini Mundy and Debra DeMarco, said they are aiming for at least 2,000 coats this collection season, which runs from Oct. 15 through Dec. 15.
Last year the pair managed to gather 1,165 coats and this year the drive has already hit the 100 mark, Ms. Mundy said.
After collecting the coats, Ms. Mundy and Dr. DeMarco routinely deliver the goods to a Hillside Jersey Cares location.
Jersey Cares is a nonprofit organization that plays middleman between coat collectors and the 200 statewide agencies that distribute them, said Ijeoma Obilo, Jersey Cares volunteer programs manager.
With the help of volunteers like Ms. Mundy and Dr. DeMarco, Ms. Obilo said, her organization has collected more than 30,000 coats in the last 11 years.
”They are our coat drive rock stars,” Ms. Obilo said. “They are so energetic about it and that’s hard to find.”
Ms. Mundy said she initially established the drive as part of community service project for a course she was taking at a local college.
The seed was planted she said during a visit to the Newark Beth Israel Hospital’s pediatric AIDS department, where she learned many of the patients did not even have coats.
”It takes like, nothing, and it can literally mean saving someone’s life,” Ms. Mundy said.
Dr. DeMarco got on board with the drive shortly after she hired Ms. Mundy at her business, Monroe Chiropractic Care.
Ms. Mundy said she has seen widows donate their husband’s old coats, heard of a terminally ill single mother taking coats for her children and has thought of the transients who are using the outerwear to stay alive in the cold winter months. She said these are the stories that continue to motivate her.
” Most of us are pretty blessed and we don’t really think about it,” she said. “I couldn’t imagine being out in a 19-degree day without a coat.”
Ms. Mundy said the drive is accepting all coat sizes but does request that they are washed.
There are a number of locations where residents can find a donation box, she said, including the Jamesburg Police Department, That’s Art, the 1st Constitution Bank, PNC Bank, Sweet William and Thyme, Corinthian Capital Group, Monroe Chiropractic Care as well as a number of local public schools.
Ms. Obilo said she has high hopes for the duo heading the Jamesburg coat drive.
”They collect so many coats,” Ms. Obilo said. “They really get the whole town involved.”
For more information on Jersey Cares programs log onto www.jerseycares.com. Anyone interested in donating to the Baby It’s Cold Outside coat drive should contact Ms. Mundy at 732-521-1333.

