CENTRAL JERSEY: Local teens organize coat drive

By Joanne Degnan, Managing Editor
   HAMILTON — It’s been a busy month for the teenagers of the St. Gregory the Great Parish’s youth ministry who have completed three different community services projects to help the poor, including a coat drive that will keep more than 400 needy residents of Appalachia warm this winter.
   The coat drive was the idea of Robbinsville teenager Lauren Guididas and was made possible by the generosity of St. Gregory the Great parishioners who donated more than 400 gently used coats between Dec. 18 and Jan. 8, according to Renee Madaio, coordinator of the Gregorian Youth Ministry (GYM).
   New Century Transportation Corp., of Westhampton, delivered the coats free of charge to Catholic Charities in Kingwood, West Virginia on Jan. 26.
   Ms. Madaio said Sunday that the coat drive was one of three projects the teenagers tackled last month to help those in need. GYM also adopted three Trenton families for Christmas and the teens did all the shopping and gift-wrapping. In a separate project, the kids put together scores of toiletry bags for the Mount Carmel Guild in Trenton, which helps the poor and homeless in Mercer County.
   The church’s youth group includes high school students from Hamilton, Robbinsville, Allentown, and surrounding communities.