The First Presbyterian Church (FPC) of Metuchen sponsored its fourth annual coat drive as part of the 22nd annual Jersey Cares Coat Drive on Dec. 16 and collected more than 1,400 coats, surpassing last year’s total.
The FPC’s Mission Commission worked with Jersey Cares, which has collected, sorted and distributed more than 500,000 coats over the past 21 years for New Jersey residents. Jersey Cares’ goal this year was to collect and distribute more than 30,000 gently used winter coats for men, women and children in need.
Jersey Cares works with companies, churches, fire departments, police stations, schools and other organizations to set up collection sites across the state to collect coats and deliver them to the nearest central drop-off point. Jersey Cares volunteers then sort and organize the donated coats and bag them for pick-up by pre-approved non-profit organizations to distribute them to people in need.