Community Involvement

Chicago Coat Drive a Success

About the photo: Coach Cleaner Jennifer Patterson collected winter coats and donated them to the Pacific Garden Mission.

Approximately 100 coats were delivered recently to Pacific Garden Mission, a homeless shelter that serves more than 5,000 men, women and children, as part of an annual winter coat drive held at 14th Street Mechanical Department and Aurora Hill Yard in Chicago.

Coach Cleaner Jennifer Patterson has organized the annual coat drive the past four years. This year, Mechanical and Transportation employees participated in the drive.

Patterson used to pass the mission and see homeless people in need of winter coats and decided to help.

"Some people come into misfortune and move to the shelter for a variety of reasons," she says. "There are a lot of folks in need who are happy to get the coats, and the warm clothes will help them endure the cold weather."