City Seeks Donations of Winter Clothing

As winter and the holidays approach, the city of Calabasas’ “Operation Warmth” program is gearing up to collect warm clothing for the Salvation Army.

Now in its third year, the program has collected more than 500 items for the Salvation Army, with warm jackets, coats, scarves, hats, sweaters and sweatshirts going to the homeless and to shelters in the San Fernando Valley.

The collection effort was the brainchild of Councilwoman Karyn Foley, who said the idea grew out of her experience as a mother. “I have children and when they were young, they would outgrow their jackets so quickly,” Foley said. “I wanted them to know their clothes could go to someone who doesn’t have a warm jacket, that we don’t just throw them away.”

Although Foley’s children are grown now, she took up collecting coats as a cause to get other youngsters to begin donating the clothes they can no longer wear.

She started the drive two years ago as a special project during her term as mayor. Her efforts have since grown to the point where groups and schools--including Round Meadow Elementary--have taken up collecting coats as a cause themselves.

“We want to show [children] that there are people unlike them, who wear jackets many times too small and cannot keep warm,” Foley said.

Capt. Troy Trimmer of the Army’s San Fernando Valley Corps in Van Nuys said the organization is most in need of blankets this year.

“We do pretty well with coats, but it’s blankets and whatnot that we run out of when we distribute,” he said.

Trimmer said “Operation Warmth” enables the group to hand out coats and other clothing to homeless adults and children and frees the organization’s clothes-buying funds for other services.

Collection bins will be set up on Saturday at City Hall, the Calabasas Tennis and Swim Center and Juan Bautista de Anza Park. The farmers’ market in Old Town Calabasas will operate a bin every Sunday in November.