Coat Drive: Recap of the 2019 Student Council Coat Drive

The sophomore Student Council collected 24 coats in their coat drive, held April 1-5 to benefit the Johnson County Christmas Bureau (JCCB), surpassing their initial goal of 20.

StuCo typically holds the coat drive in the spring, since the warmer weather prompts people to want to get rid of their coats. This year’s sophomores chose to take initiative after their experience with volunteering at the JCCB.

“When we went to JCCB to volunteer, they ran out of coats there, so we thought it would be a good idea to have a coat drive so people could donate their coats [to them],” sophomore class president Kennedy Kaufman said.

Almost every year, StuCo holds a coat drive to benefit the JCCB bringing in around 20 coats annually. StuCo helps out with other events as well, including things such as a can and book drive.

According to StuCo sponsor Hannah Pence, the Shawnee Mission School District has had a strong relationship with the JCCB which the organization benefits a lot from when it comes to collecting donations. The items StuCo collects throughout the year in their different initiatives go in their store which is directed towards low-income families to shop at during the holiday season.

Some of the sophomore StuCo representatives collected the coats on Friday after school to deliver to the JCCB. Throughout the week, they had spread the word over the announcements and by putting up posters around the school. According to Pence, every donation counts with the coat drive.

“For the [Johnson County] Christmas Bureau, any coats that they can get are ideal for them,” Pence said. “If we collect 20 [coats], that’s 20 less coats for them to go buy. It’s always cool when you go to the Christmas Bureau to see all the coats they have. I think we all take having coats for granted.”