GREENFIELD — The New England Learning Center for Women in Transition blossomed in the mid-1970s after four women met around a kitchen table in New Salem to think of how to respond to the needs of local women and children living with domestic violence and abuse.

NELCWIT now offers relief to individuals and families of all genders and ages, and each year the program helps ensure youngsters have sufficient winter clothing by using The Recorder’s Warm the Children drive.

Teresa, a NELCWIT Latina advocate who works in crisis intervention, said 40 to 50 children got new clothes this year at the temporary Warm the Children “store” established in the Dole Building at the Franklin County Fairgrounds, where distribution lasted from Sept. 19 through 21.

Children and their families or guardians visit the Dole Building and hand a form — detailing the number of children, their age and gender — to a volunteer shopper who takes the children on a “shopping trip” through the building to ensure they get every article of clothing they’re entitled to. The process is anonymous. Clothing items include thermal underwear, jackets, boots, hats, pajamas, socks and a fleece sweatshirt.

“It is a wonderful program that really, really helps a lot of our clients, especially families who have one, two, three, four or five children,” said Teresa, who like other NELCWIT staffers and clients typically release only their first names for concerns over safety). “It’s a very wonderful feeling for the parents, because they’re always (otherwise) getting hand-me-downs (to give to their children).”

Teresa also said the winter coats come in an array of colors the children can choose from, which makes them feel better.

“The program is well run by volunteers and it’s amazing,” she said.

Warm the Children annually provides winter clothing to about 1,000 needy children in Franklin County.

NELCWIT’s opened its first outreach office in 1976 and it was operated by up to 22 volunteers offering crisis counseling and temporary shelters through roughly a dozen private homes. NELCWIT was in 1977 incorporated as a non-profit multi-service center to address the needs of women in major life transitions and, in 1979, NELCWIT opened its first shelter for women and their children who had experienced abuse and needed to escape their immediate situation.

NELCWIT also has a 24-hour crisis hotline that can be reached at 413-772-0806.

To donate, send a check to: Warm the Children, c/o The Recorder, P.O. Box 1367, Greenfield, MA 01302. New clothing may be dropped at The Greenfield Recorder, at 14 Hope St., any time during the year during business hours (Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.).

If you have a story to share about giving or receiving warm clothes during the Warm the Children campaign, contact Domenic Poli at dpoli@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 262.