Youth Reaching Higher and the Winnemucca Community Garden collaborated to collect over 900 coats to be donated in our community.  The event was kicked off at the Community Garden Harvest Festival and ran for the month of November with drop-off locations at schools and businesses in town.  The Garden and Youth Reaching Higher would like to thank our extremely generous community for standing up to the call for help so that everyone can have a warm and weather-proof coat this winter. 

Coats have been distributed to the Food Bank, local and rural schools, Indigent Services, the Soup Kitchen, Word of Light Fellowship, the Winnemucca Ministerial Association and the Family Resource Center.  If you or someone you know needs a coat, please contact the Winnemucca Community Garden Office at 623-2333 or visit us at 640 Melarkey St., Suite 2 and someone will gladly help you find a coat.  Anyone is welcome. 

Youth Reaching Higher empowers youth to make social changes in their communities, schools and homes through education, art, and recreational opportunities.  Lori Timko, one of the leaders of the Youth Reaching Higher Youth Group, was integral to the success of the coat drive.  Her endless work wouldn't stop until she realized how many coats had been collected.  Also, a special thanks to Regina Thompson for all her driving, and help sorting and counting coats.

Furthermore, a huge “We couldn't have done it without you!” to Dawn Marie West and Sonoma Industries who washed all the coats for free at the Sonoma Industries Thrift Shop.  Thanks for your and your staff's unending devotion to the washing machine and the dryer!

The Winnemucca Community Garden is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization working to enhance the quality of life in Winnemucca by cultivating a beautiful garden where the community can gather, grow and celebrate nature.  Rachel Jones, an AmeriCorps VISTA member for the Community Garden, participated in the project to fulfill the VISTA mission of ending poverty.  “Coat drives and food drives are a great way to get abundant resources to people who don't have access to them.  Poverty is not caused by a lack of resources, but poor distribution services.,” Rachel said. 

The Community Garden and the Youth Reaching Higher Youth Group would also like to thank Word of Light Fellowship and the Frontier Community Coalition for their invaluable help with the project.  They would also like to thank the following businesses and schools for hosting donation boxes: Khoury's, Lowry High School, Grass Valley Elementary, Uptown Market, Sonoma Heights Elementary, French Ford Middle School, and the Winnemucca Junior High.

The Winnemucca Community Garden is a United Way of the Great Basin Partner.