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GRPS' Buchanan Elementary School to receive 350 new winter coats

Coats for Kids

With the cold winter months upon us, students at a local elementary school are getting free winter coats on Tuesday. Molina Healthcare of Michigan is behind the giveaway, as students from Grand Rapids Public Schools’ Buchanan Elementary will get their pick out of  350-brand-new coats and winter accessories.

Initially launched in 2016, The Molina HOPE Coat Giveaway initiative has given away nearly 23,000 new winter coats to those in need during the winter months. Tuesday’s giveaway at Buchanan Elementary is particularly needed, as officials say, 97 percent of the students who attended kindergarten through fifth grade at the school come from low-income families.

Javier Cervantes is a communications coordinator for Grand Rapids Public Schools.

“It’s absolutely a much-needed resource for our family, Cervantes said. “It is something that many of families that many of families struggle with. We are greatly appreciative.”

The giveaway Tuesday comes on the heels of the largest HOPE Coat Giveaway earlier this month in Detroit, where roughly 2200 coats were given to students living below the poverty line.