Rotary Club of Wyandotte Will Match Donations to Ensure Needy Children Have a Winter Coat This Year

Members of the Rotary Club of Wyandotte have partnered with the online coupon giant, Groupon, to help provide winter coats to children in need this year.

For every $10 donation, the Rotary Club will match it with another $10 to provide the $20 it costs to purchase a warm coat for a needy child.

The promotion runs through Thursday and is in conjunction with Rotary Clubs from Gibraltar, Grosse Ile, Taylor, Trenton and Woodhaven/Brownstown Township. Donations of up to $7,000 will be matched by the six clubs.

In 2008, more than 145,000 children in Wayne County lived in poverty, which accounts for nearly 30 percent of all children in the county, according to Rotary officials. Since that time, officials said, poverty has grown substantially.

The coat giveaway is being run in conjunction with Operation Warm, a national organization that has provided winter coats to 775,000 children in 39 states since the group formed in 1998.

The group aims to help its 1 millionth child this winter.

Shawn Bumgardner, president of Wyandotte Rotary, said his club works with to identify the local children in need of a coat. This year, he said, about 70 Wyandotte students are set to be helped.

“The kids are really appreciative,” Bumgardner said. “These are generally low-income families and they need it. It’s hard getting through a winter with some sweatpants and hooded sweatshirts.”