TURNERS FALLS – Susan Jones said being able to show up to school with a nice new winter coat is a wonderful thing for a child.

And dozens of families each year are provided that opportunity due to their affiliation with The United Arc, where Jones serves as director of Families and Youth Services. The United Arc is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

The Arc again this year participated in Warm the Children, The Recorder’s clothing drive that annually provides winter clothing to about 1,000 needy children in Franklin County.

“This year we were very pleased to receive 65 slots,” Jones said. “It was nice, because our department is broken up into three programs: the Family Support Program for families with individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities, then Positive Parenting for families connected with (the Department of Children and Families), and Grandparent/Kinship Caregiver Support, primarily for grandparents.”

Jones said Grandparent/Kinship Caregiver Support got five Warm the Children slots and the remaining 60 were divided evenly between the Family Support Program and Positive Parenting.

“People are just so thrilled with this. It is such a relief for them,” Jones said. “It’s a wonderful program. It is so helpful to our families.”

Warm the Children was started by The Recorder in 1993. Children go “shopping” for new clothes at the temporary Warm the Children “store” established in the Dole Building at the Franklin County Fairgrounds, where distribution this year 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 through the building to ensure they get every article of clothing they’re entitled to. This process is anonymous. Clothing items include thermal underwear, jackets, boots, hats, pajamas, socks and a fleece sweatshirt.

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.