No, we’re not talking about the ozone this time. We’re talking about something closer to home.

This morning, I looked at my daughter on the way to school and realized that she needs a new coat. So we planned on going shopping this weekend to look for a coat before it gets too cold. So simple… need coat, go get one.

Yes, it is simple. So simple that we take it for granted. But when you’re homeless or don’t have a job, or even when you have a job but it’s only enough to keep you from the food bank, it’s not so simple to just go to the store and get a new one. I see kids all the time who go to school without a coat or one that is not thick enough for the cold. I know they’re not like my teenage daughters and their friends who can go out in a t-shirt in sixty degree weather; these kids are shivering. They wrap their arms around themselves to keep the warmth in. You see them all over the place if you just pay attention. It’s not just the ones living in the woods or under the bridge though, there are kids who have parents that love them who live in homes or apartments, who have enough to eat… but maybe not enough to buy new coats every season.

Next time you see a coat drive at the malls, at the church or at work, don’t walk by too fast.

One of the rituals I have gotten into this time of year is to go through our coat closet and clean sort through what we can still wear and what we can get rid off. Most of the time, we end up taking out the girls’ coats that they’ve out grown. I don’t toss them out though. I either take them to the neighborhood church or to Goodwill so someone else can use them. The last couple of years I had taken the girls’ gently used coats to the school. The elementary school my daughters attended keep coats in the office to give to kids who come to school without a coat. This year, I’m thinking of going by Sears to support the Land’s End campaign below.

I learned about Lands’ End joining forces with the National Coalition for the Homeless for the Big Warm-up.  The Big Warm-up provides an opportunity for people across the nation to donate a gently used coat that will then go on to warm one of more than 3.5 million homeless women, men and children in the United States right now – each facing a cold winter.

Beginning October 29 until November 30, Lands’ End is hosting Big Warm-up coat donation sites at its 252 Lands’ End Shops at Sears and 13 Lands’ End Inlets®.  Donated coats will be distributed via the National Coalition for the Homeless in communities nearby.  To further encourage donations, Lands’ End is giving 20 percent off the purchase of a new coat for each one donated.

Visit WWW.BIGWARMUP.COM to see how each coat can warm a heart, track donations, find donation sites, watch an inspiring video and spread the word.

Next time you’re bundling up to go outside, try to remember to pull out those unused coats in your closet. It doesn’t matter which agency you take your coats to, I’m sure someone will be glad to be able to bundle up against the cold too.