East Pierce Fire & Rescue personnel keep children warm with Coats for Kids drive

Elementary-school students in Sumner were delivered new coats by a team of firefighters and Amazon employees on Nov. 9.

East Pierce Fire & Rescue teamed up with Operation Warm, a nonprofit organization based in Virginia, to provide children in the area with coats they might not otherwise be able to afford.

On the day of the delivery, students at Daffodil Valley and Maple Lawn elementary schools were taken class by class to a room where firefighters and an array of coats were waiting for them.

“We have the coats laid out by size,” said Hunter Chumbley, an East Pierce Fire paramedic who organized the Firefighters Coats for Kids drive. “We order coats specific to the kids based on the what the counselors size them for. We have them pick a color and make sure the size fits.”

Around 200 coats were distributed, but Chumbley says he plans not to stop there. So far, the operation has raised $15,000, but Chumbley’s goal is to double that and help four more schools this year.

“We did 720 coats last year and our goal is to do more than 720 this year,” Chumbley said. “The last two years we’ve ranked top ten in the United States for most coats given.”

Operation Warm, which supplies the coats for the firefighters, was established in Virginia in 2004. East Pierce Fire partnered with the nonprofit four years ago. In those four years, Amazon helped out the initiative by sponsoring schools. This year is the first time Amazon sent out associates to assist with placing coats directly into the hands of kids. 　

The coats themselves are one of a kind and can’t be bought from a store. Through Operation Warm, the coats are made in the United States with a “Firefighters Coats for Kids” label stitched into them.

“Our coats are special because the factory that makes them provides funding to underprivileged individuals,” Chumbley said. “Everyone’s benefiting in some way or another throughout the whole (cycle).”

As a paramedic, Chumbley says he’s aware of children in local areas who are in need.

“They’re not able to go out on their own and get themselves a jacket,” Chumbley said. “They say things like, ‘It’s so cold outside, I wish I had a jacket.’ A kid who needs a warm jacket just to be warm in the winter time should have one.”

For Chumbley, Coats for Kids is one way to make a difference, even when he’s off duty.

“This is an opportunity to reach out and help,” he said. “This is an opportunity for us to give a jacket to a child who needs one.”

When a child is finally united with a new coat, the reactions are instant, as the East Pierce firefighters saw themselves this month.

“They’re so happy when they get (coats),” Chumbley said. “This year we (had) tons of smile and hugs. They just put smile on your face.”

Online donations can be made at operationwarm.org/eastpierce. Monetary donations may be dropped off during regular business hours at East Pierce Fire headquarters at 18421 Veterans Memorial Drive E. in Bonney Lake.

This story was originally published November 23, 2016 at 10:43 PM with the headline "East Pierce Fire & Rescue personnel keep children warm with Coats for Kids drive."