Anton’s “Coats for Kids” welcomes Wayland Middle School as a participant in this year’s coat collection. Starting October 14, 2013, Anton’s Cleaners is kicking off its 19th annual “Coats for Kids” winter coat drive and will run through January 11, 2014. Anton’s Cleaners “Coats for Kids” collection has one simple goal – to help individuals who otherwise wouldn’t be able to keep themselves and their families warm. “Coats for Kids” is New England’s largest coat drive, with school groups making up one half of all collections – over 800,000 coats since the program began.

Schools, alongside participating companies and organizations, collect good quality, warm winter coats and then bring them to any of Anton’s Cleaners’ 42 locations or one of the five Jordan’s Furniture stores. Participating schools also receive the opportunity to earn rewards for their school while helping babies, kids and adults in their own community keep warm through this program.

Once collected and cleaned, coats are distributed free of charge through the “Coats for Kids” Distribution Partners network, which includes organizations such as BU Medical Center Outreach Van Project, Catholic Charities, Community Giving Tree, Massachusetts Community Action Programs (MASSCAP), Mental Health Association of Greater Lowell, Middlesex Human Service Agency, Salvation Army, Taunton State Hospital, Wish Project and many more. Last year’s drive collected 52,000 coats, with Anton’s donating over $10,000 in cleaning services.  For more information, visit http://antons.com/cfk/.