Where to Give for Giving Tuesday

Summary

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Podcast Summary: "Where to Give for Giving Tuesday"

Podcast: All Of It with Alison Stewart (WNYC)
Date: November 27, 2023

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Episode Overview

In anticipation of Giving Tuesday, host Alison Stewart spotlights charitable giving, focusing on coat and food drives supporting communities in New York City and beyond. Stewart is joined by Beth Amadeo, President and CEO of the nonprofit One Warm Coat, to discuss how listeners can contribute to neighbors in need, the logistics behind organizing coat drives, and the importance of community engagement during the colder months. Listeners call in to share local initiatives and personal motivations, creating a communal and inspiring space for sharing ways to help.

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Key Discussion Points

1. The Spirit of Giving Tuesday

• Alison Stewart opens with the theme of giving as the holiday season approaches, encouraging the community to share their charitable activities and organizations ([01:32]).
• WNYC’s internal partnership with New York Cares for a coat drive exemplifies the push for direct, local action.

2. How One Warm Coat Works

• Beth Amadeo explains the model:
  • Volunteer-driven, with over 5,000 coat drives and 1,500 nonprofit partners nationwide ([03:09]).
  • Volunteers can register drives via the One Warm Coat website and are supplied with resources to succeed.
  • Collected coats are distributed locally to people in need.
  • In 2022, over 550,000 coats were provided through these efforts ([03:55]).
• Finding a Nearby Drive:
  • Their website features a searchable map for "donate a coat near me," with many major retailers collecting coats and offering discounts (e.g., J.Crew, Land’s End) ([04:25]).

3. Coat Donation Guidelines & Textile Recycling

• Donated coats should be “clean and wearable—no tears, stains, or holes. If you wouldn’t put it on yourself or your child, please don’t donate it.” ([05:16])
• For items unsuitable for donation, Amadeo recommends partnering with Retold Recycling for responsible textile disposal ([05:40]).

4. Listener Call-Ins: Community Organizations and Impact

• Leon, House of Good Deeds (Manhattan):

  • Collects clothing, shoes, housewares, and food, distributing them for free. Volunteers are welcome ([06:44]).
  • Motivation: The experience of receiving help during a personal tragedy inspired paying it forward:

    "So many people came from all over the world to help us. This was our way of paying it forward by teaching people how easy and important it was to make a difference in other people's lives." – Leon ([07:22])

• Jennifer, Harvest House (Sussex, NJ):

  • Provides hot meals to 60–80 clients daily, started by local high school students ([07:52]).
  • Fundraising via a poinsettia sale; donations accepted online ([08:47]).
  • Motivation:

    "Anytime you are touched by tragedy in your life, you realize just how grateful you are to see another day. And I think that motivates some people to do good." – Jennifer ([09:33])

• Elena, Montclair Community Farm (NJ):

  • Focuses on food access, education, and community engagement for young people ([13:49]).
  • Memorable Moment:

    “They [my children] were the ones that taught me about the three sisters and how... giving back to the community and providing this fresh produce for everyone, because everyone deserves green on their plates.” – Elena ([14:33])

5. Trends and Growing Need

• Surging Demand:
  • Amadeo highlights a substantial increase in the number of people and agencies seeking coats:

    “Over the last three years, the numbers have increased probably 50 to 70% across the board.” ([11:24])

• NYC-Specific Challenges:
  • New York City's poverty rate (17%) surpasses national average (11%) ([12:39]), and the influx of migrants increases the need for warm clothing.
  • Many migrants come from warm climates and have no experience with cold winters ([13:09]).

6. Supporting and Connecting with Organizations

• Listeners are encouraged to amplify local initiatives by tagging @allofitWNYC on social media; WNYC will help spread the word ([01:32], [09:55]).
• Amadeo encourages nonprofit organizations to register with One Warm Coat to become distribution partners, noting registration is free ([15:28]).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the power of community:

  "I'm always surprised by the goodwill of human beings and the desire to help... it always cheers me on to keep doing the work we’re doing." – Beth Amadeo ([11:55])

• On the growth in demand:

  “Last year was the huge number of coats... 550,000 coats. And still our partner agencies came back and said overwhelmingly they still did not receive enough coats.” – Beth Amadeo ([11:55])

• Listener text shout-out:

  "I love cooking meals for my local community fridge. It’s a grassroots way to support your local community where city agencies fail with meals or grocery items, there’s a map available for people to find one near them." ([15:45])

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Key Timestamps

• 01:32 – Alison Stewart introduces Giving Tuesday and the phone line for listeners to share
• 03:03 – Beth Amadeo explains how One Warm Coat operates
• 03:55 – One Warm Coat’s 2022 impact: 550,000 coats from over 5,000 drives
• 04:25 – Info on NYC-area collection drives and retailer partnerships
• 05:16 – Guidelines for donating coats and responsible recycling
• 06:44 – Leon from House of Good Deeds shares his organization and personal motivation
• 07:52 – Jennifer calls about Harvest House, motivations for giving
• 09:55 – Ongoing listener engagement: sharing organizations and social media amplification
• 10:54 – Beth Amadeo’s personal story and career in non-profits
• 11:24 – Surging requests for coats and growing demand
• 12:39 – NYC poverty rates and migrant challenges
• 13:09 – Impact of migrants on community needs
• 13:49 – Elena on Montclair Community Farm’s impact on her kids and community
• 14:57 – Host’s shout-out to Xavier Mission’s Welcome Table Soup Kitchen
• 15:28 – Amadeo encourages nonprofits to join One Warm Coat’s partner network

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Further Information & Resources

• One Warm Coat: onewarmcoat.org
• House of Good Deeds: houseofgoodd.org
• Harvest House: harvesthousenj.org
• Montclair Community Farm: montclaircommunityfarms.org
• Xavier Mission’s Welcome Table: xaviermission.org
• Find a community fridge: nycfridge.com (or local directories)

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Closing

The episode underscores that acts of giving—big or small—make a difference, and that there are many accessible, tangible ways to help neighbors this season. The stories and advice from guests and callers offer resources, inspiration, and a sense of communal generosity, fitting for Giving Tuesday and beyond.

Transcript

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Listener supported WNYC studios.

[Allison Stewart]

This.

Is all of it on WNYC. I'm Alison Stewart. We continue our giving theme considering Tomorrow is Giving Tuesday. One of the ways we're getting in the spirit internally here at WNYC is that all of It. Our show has partnered with New York Cares for an internal coat drive so that our colleagues can donate gently used coats right where they work. Many of you may be doing the same thing in your workplace or place of worship or community center or school. So we want to provide a space on air for you to shout out the coat or food drive that you're participating in or if you're a place where people in need can get clothing or food of any kind. Our Phone lines are open. 212-433-969-2212-4433 wnyc we want to know all the ways all all of It Listeners are helping people stay warm and fed this winter. 2124-3396-9221-2433 wnyc if you have a flyer, take a picture of it and tag us on our socials at all of it wnyc. Or if you have a website that you run to, you can tag us and we will collect the list and we'll put it in our website or amplify it on our social media site and then everybody can figure out ways that they can help as well. 2124-3396-9221-2433, wnyc. Joining me now is my ride along for this conversation is Beth Amadeo, the president of the nonprofit One Warm Coat. One Warm Coat partners with groups all around the country to get coats into the hands of people who need them. Beth, welcome to all of it.

[Beth Amadeo]

Thank you so much for having me.

[Allison Stewart]

So how does this work? How does One Warm Coat provide coats?

[Beth Amadeo]

So we actually rely on thousands of volunteers across the country. I'm really excited to have a chance with you today and have your listeners hear how they can get involved. The way that we work is people volunteer to hold a code drive and they can register to hold one on our website, and we provide all of the resources to make that possible. Then the coats they collect are directed to one of our nonprofit partners. And we have 1500 nonprofit organizations across the country who receive the coats and distribute them directly to the people in need.

[Allison Stewart]

When you think about it, all of your different partnerships, everybody involved, guesstimate how many coats did one warm coat provide.

Or facilitate people getting last year?

[Beth Amadeo]

550,000. And that was from over 5,000 coat drives that took place. Everything from individual volunteers of all ages. We even have kids who hold code drives to really big companies and national retail brands holding code drives helped us to to get that large number of coats last year.

[Allison Stewart]

You work around the country. Who or what are some of the.

Organizations that you work with in New.

York City, in the New York area?

[Beth Amadeo]

Well, so there's dozens of coat drives happening in New York City right now, as you can imagine. And one of the cool things we have is a map where anyone who googles donate a coat near me, really anywhere in the country is going to be taken to our map and they can go put in their zip code and find a coat drive near them. So those also have a lot of good shopping opportunities. Opportunities this time of year. J. Crew all of the local J. Crew retail locations are collecting coats, and you can get 25 off. Land's End is collecting coats. Todd Snyder, Duluth Trading any of those places where you can go take a coat and actually get a discount while you're shopping for holiday gifts as well.

[Allison Stewart]

When you're donating a coat, tell us about the condition it should be in. What are some do's and don'ts?

[Beth Amadeo]

Great question. We always ask that the coats that are donated be clean and wearable, and that means no tears or stains or holes. So I always say if you wouldn't put it on yourself or put it on your child to wear out for the day. Please don't donate it. But there are some solutions for people who don't want to just throw those away as well.

[Allison Stewart]

Such as?

[Beth Amadeo]

So we partner with an organization called Retold Recycling, and they have bags that you can order from them, fill with any kind of textile that you want and mail it back to them. And then they make sure that something positive happens with those textiles rather than just going into the landfill.

[Allison Stewart]

Yeah, I've used some of those bags for like holy socks. What if it's like the socks is through the hole? It's just a little bit too big? You can't quite fix it. You've tried. Yeah.

[Beth Amadeo]

Yes, that's completely it.

[Allison Stewart]

My guest is Beth Amadeo, president and CEO of One Warm Coat. We're talking about ways we can help our fellow New Yorkers this time of year, hopefully all year long. But it's Giving Tuesday tomorrow, so we want to hear about how you are giving back this holiday season. 212-433-969-2212, wnyc. You can text to us or you can join and tell us what's going on. Like Leon, who is calling in from Manhattan. Hi, Leon, thanks for calling all of it.

[Leon]

Hey, Allison, thanks for having me.

[Allison Stewart]

You are on the air.

[Leon]

Fabulous. Well, I'm glad to be here. So I'm the executive director of a nonprofit called House of Good Deeds. Much like One Warm Coat or New York Carriage, we collect donations. We have vehicles, we drive all around New York City. We collect items like clothing, shoes, housewares, and food, and we give them away for free to anyone in need.

[Allison Stewart]

And if people want to know more about House of Good Deeds, where can they go?

[Leon]

Houseofgoodd.org we are also the House of Good Deeds on Facebook and Instagram. We love volunteers and we love people with ideas who want to volunteer with us.

[Allison Stewart]

And Leon, how did you get into this work?

[Leon]

Oh, boy. It's a long story, which you don't have time for, I don't think. Long story short, my fiance took ill and was diagnosed with terminal cancer the day after we got engaged. And so many people came from all over the world to help us. This was our way of paying it forward by teaching people how easy and important it was to make a difference in other people's lives.

[Allison Stewart]

Leon, thank you so much for calling in and thank you for the work that you do. Let's talk to Jennifer from Vernon, New Jersey. Hi, Jennifer, thanks for calling all of.

[Jennifer]

It thank you so much, Allison. I am calling on behalf of Harvest House in Sussex, New Jersey. My mom has worked as a trustee on the board for many, many years. It was started by students at the Vernon Township High School to feed the hungry and poor of our western side of Sussex County, New Jersey. And so about 360 days a year, Harvest House feeds Monday through Friday, about 60 to it's a growing number to 80 clients a day. A hot meal and food to take home that can be warmed up. And anybody who shows up at the doors gets a hot meal Monday through Friday in Sussex, N.J. and Jennifer, are.

[Allison Stewart]

You part of the organization?

[Jennifer]

I have done a lot of the volunteering and doing social media and marketing and spreading the word for my mom who's not the best at about the socials. But and I, I've, I've done a lot of the work for some of the fundraisers. Right now they're running the poinsettia sale where you can get a fresh poinsettia for your home and all A large part of the money goes back to Harvest House. They get it right from the greenhouses in Pine Island, New Jersey. But you can find them harvesthouse nj.org and you can make a donation on the website as well. So any donations?

[Allison Stewart]

Yeah, before I let you go, what, what made you get involved? What makes you do this work?

[Jennifer]

You know, it's a, anytime like your former caller, anytime you are touched by tragedy in your life, you realize just how grateful you are to see another day. And I think that that motivates some people to do good. And I think that by spreading that good, it makes the world a better place.

[Allison Stewart]

Jennifer, thank you so much for calling in. We are sort of pregaming giving Tuesday, which is tomorrow. We want to know how you are giving back this holiday season. If you're participating in a coat or a can drive or a food drive and you want to shout it out, our phone lines are open to you. 2124-3396-9221-2433. WNYC. You can join us on air or you can text to us. Know of any organization or you're involved in any organization that is giving back. If you take a picture of the flyer that you send out from your organization or maybe there's a screenshot of a website or if there's an Instagram you want to tag and tag us, we will amplify it. We are at all of it wnyc. Joining me for this conversation is Beth Amodillo, president and CEO of One Warm Coat. I've asked everybody. Someone asks you this, Beth, how do you. How did you get involved in this work you do?

[Beth Amadeo]

This has been my lifelong career. Not one word, coat, but working in the nonprofit space. I grew up with my parents who were really, really involved in the community, doing lots of volunteer work. Been doing mission trips with my parents since I was a little kid. And this was just really what I always knew that I wanted to do.

[Allison Stewart]

Now that you've been with One Warm Coat, what trends have you noticed in your work in terms of need?

[Beth Amadeo]

Oh, it's absolutely been an astronomical growth in terms of the number of requests that we're getting from agencies who need coats for the people they serve. We've seen, especially over the last three years, the numbers have increased probably 50 to 70% across the board. In terms of the actual number of people who are requiring assistance, has anything.

[Allison Stewart]

Surprised you recently in terms of coat drives or people that your organization helps?

[Beth Amadeo]

Well, I'm. I'm always surprised, I think both, both positively and negatively. I'm always surprised by the. The goodwill of human beings and the desire to help. I'm just like the callers that you've been talking to today. And it always, you know, cheers me on to keep doing the work that we're doing. And then in the negative space, I'm just disappointed to see how the need continues to increase year after year. Last year was the huge number of coats that we brought in, 550,000 coats. And still our partner agencies came back and said overwhelmingly they still did not receive enough coats.

[Allison Stewart]

What about New York City metro area?

How does it differ from other parts?

[Beth Amadeo]

So New York City is, you know, obviously experiencing a great deal of need this year and every year. But this year in particular, the stats say that New York has a poverty rate of 17%, while the national average is 11%. So the need here, you know, seems to be growing. It seems to be larger than the national average.

[Allison Stewart]

Has the increase, the number of migrants.

Changed, affected one warm coat?

[Beth Amadeo]

Absolutely. We were already really trying to work harder than ever before to try to meet the needs in New York City. And then over the past couple of years, the number of migrants arriving have really increased the number of people requiring assistance. As you know, a number of the migrants are coming from warm weather environments. They're really not used to being in these cold temperatures and really need those warm coats and other types of outerwear.

[Allison Stewart]

Let's go to Elena calling in from Montclair on line one. Hi, Elena, thanks for calling all of it.

[Jennifer]

Hi.

[Elena]

Thanks so much for taking my call.

[Allison Stewart]

You're on the air.

[Elena]

Okay, so I would like to shout out the Montclair Community Farm in Montclair, New Jersey. They are a program that provides nutritious food for thousands of members of our community and markets. But then they also have programs for children and adults, educational programs and workshops. And my two children loved playing with their chickens and helping to put the gardens to bed and learning about tulips and different bulbs. So I'd just like to shout that group out.

[Allison Stewart]

Elena, how did you talk to your children about the work that the farm does in terms of.

[Jennifer]

Actually, they were the ones. They were the ones that talked to.

[Elena]

Me about the work, which was really important. They are 5 and 7, and so they're the ones that taught me about the three sisters and how to the importance of having chickens and the importance of giving back to the community and providing this fresh produce for everyone, because everyone deserves green on their plates.

[Allison Stewart]

Elena, thanks for calling in. I'm gonna shout out 1. Beth. There's a soup kitchen open every when most other soup kitchens in New York City are closed. It's called the welcome Table. It's at Xavier Mission in Union Square. They're amazing. They run an amazing program, and they also have clothing as well. So that's a place where people can volunteer or you can make contributions. I'm a big fan of the work that they do. Anything you would like to leave us with before we finish up?

[Beth Amadeo]

You do work with a nonprofit organization as a volunteer or as a team member, and you would like to receive coats through One Worm Coat to distribute to the clients you serve. Please also visit our website and it's free to register to become a nonprofit partner and to join our network.

[Allison Stewart]

Got text? I love cooking meals for my local community fridge. It's a grassroots way to support your local community. Where city agencies fail with meals or grocery items, there's a map available for people to find one near them. Thanks for that text. And thanks to Beth Amadio, president and CEO of One Warm Coat. Thanks for being with us.

[Beth Amadeo]

Thank you so much for having me.

[Allison Stewart]

This is all of it.

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