911TH FSS INAUGURAL COAT DRIVE

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Roberto Modelo
  • 911 AW/PA
PITTSBURGH IAP ARS --  The 911th Force Support Squadron Inaugural Coat Drive kicked-off here during the February Unit Training Assembly. Nearly 100 coats and scarves were collected and then donated to Goodwill of Southwestern Pennsylvania's Pleasant Valley Emergency Shelter on Pittsburgh's Northside Feb. 18.

"Master Sgt. Cassaundra Wright was actually the one that started the idea," said Master Sgt. Patrick Collins, 911th FSS First Sergeant. "This was the inaugural event, but we anticipate that we are going to carry on this tradition and make it an annual event."

"My hope this year to have the next target month for donations to be during December," Sergeant Collins added.

The Pittsburgh Valley Emergency Shelter serves the Northside of Pittsburgh; however, they accept homeless from all around the region.

"We've had people come in from Ohio and from out by Philadelphia," said Mr. Scott Wood, Pleasant Valley's Permanent Housing Case Manager.

Goodwill of Southwestern Pennsylvania is a not-for-profit organization whose mission it is to "help people with special needs overcome barriers to employment and enjoy the dignity and benefits of work and improved quality of life." At the local level, Goodwill Pleasant Valley Shelter operates with the assistance of Northside Common Ministries, a non-sectarian, non-profit organization. Together the organizations provide homeless services that are aimed at stabilizing them and giving them the necessary training to get back into the workforce.

"They only stay here 60 days max, but when they are here it gives them a place to stay that is nice and warm," said Mrs. Mary Jane Bigley of Goodwill SWPA.

Along with stability and training, the shelter provides the homeless with the ability to regenerate the paperwork needed in order get a job and obtain housing on their own.
"Frequently, if you are homeless, your wallet is the first thing to go. So there is nothing to prove who you are," said Mrs. Bigley.

"We have them reapply for their birth certificate so that they can get their Social Security card," said Mr. Wood. "Once they do that, then they can obtain a photo ID."

The 911th FSS plans to keep giving to the local community in the coming years with the help of both the Airman and Civilian personnel from the 911th Airlift Wing. In addition to the giving scheduled for the upcoming year, they are looking at creating a "Pajamas for Patients" program between the 911th FSS and the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. The planned program's main goal is to provide pajamas to kids who have unexpected stays at the hospital for any illness.

"Having a daughter who has been in an out of Children's Hospital, I know that sometimes when the parents get to the hospital they don't know that they are going to stay overnight, so they don't have pajamas for kids," said Sergeant Collins. "I think that is something that makes the kids feel safe and secure."

Currently, Sergeant Collins is trying to coordinate the effort with the hospital's volunteer office. The plan is to start receiving donations, at the earliest, in March of this year with the goal of making the donation to the hospital by July.

Whether it is a coat drive for the homeless or donations to Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, the 911th FSS plan to make continuing contributions to the surrounding community in the upcoming years.

For questions regarding donations, you can contact Sergeant Collins at 412-474-8557.