GREENFIELD — Debbie Daly has to scramble days before people come in for winter clothes at the annual Warm the Children drive.
It’s a scene that Daly and the help on hand call “organized chaos.”
There are boxes on top of boxes, towering to the tops of the barn at the Franklin County Fairgrounds.
Looking back, Daly, the head organizer of the clothing drive from Wilson’s Department Store, made sure everyone has a task. Daly and others tried to make everything look as professional as possible before families line up over the course of three days to find winter clothes for their children.
“It’s always hectic. It’s organized chaos,” Daly said. “There’s a lot of sorting and toting and lifting and opening and setting up. It’s a little chaotic but it’s what I do for a living.” Daly is the children’s buyer at Wilson’s.
The clothing, still in the boxes at this point, is being taken out and hung to model how it might look in the department store. The brands are being sorted in every size and color imaginable.
“It’s a really huge operation and it’s a really wonderful thing,” Daly said. “One of the great things about it is, all the money raised stays in the community.”
She added that the goal is to help 1,250 children in the community this year.
“The need is always 10 times greater than the money,” Daly said.
The Greenfield Recorder’s Warm the Children drive is supported by partners Wilson’s Department Store and Community Action, and funded through community donations. Children are selected by Community Action, a nonprofit that helps support lower-income families. Wilson’s provides clothing racks and purchases the clothing with the donations, and The Recorder, which created the charity locally, spearheads the fundraising efforts. Together, they operate a store over three days in the fall, that happened this year in September. Now the Recorder is encouraging the community to raise money again, for next year’s winter clothes.
The main fundraising drive begins in September with the clothes from last year’s funds given out well ahead of the winter season. A thousand children get about $80 to $100 worth of clothing each, including items like a winter coat, a fleece sweatshirt, underwear, socks and thermal underwear.
The fundraising campaign has targeted Dec. 31 as the endpoint, although the Recorder accepts donations all year.
To donate to Warm the Children, send a check to: Warm the Children, c/o The Recorder, P.O. Box 1367, Greenfield, MA 01302. New clothing may also be dropped at The Greenfield Recorder at 14 Hope St. any time.
If you would like to publicize information about fundraisers or share a story, call Joshua Solomon at the Greenfield Recorder at 413-772-0261, ext. 264 or reach out via email: jsolomon@recorder.com