More than 100 area children were recently able to buy warm coats, hats and other winter apparel at Target in Allentown thanks to St. Luke’s University Health Network’s annual “Coats for Kids” campaign.
Because of COVID-19 concerns, the annual fundraiser was conducted differently from past years. But it was even more successful, said Marie Ann Sutera-Wendells, Marketing Events Leader.
In the late fall, St. Luke’s employees donated more than $14,000 to the campaign.
Thanks to generous St. Luke’s employees, fewer local children will have to endure the winter without a warm coat.
In past years, volunteers would use the donations to buy coats, hats, scarves and gloves and set up a “store” at St. Luke’s Education Center in Bethlehem. They would then invite families to come and “shop.” Instead, this year families were given vouchers so they could buy their children’s winter apparel themselves at the Target on N. Cedar Crest Boulevard.
The families bought more than $8,000 worth of apparel in November and December.
The money that was not spent was given to the St. Luke’s Visiting Nurse Association (VNA), which purchased additional coats and cold weather gear and distributed it to children who needed it.
Donegan Elementary School in Bethlehem, the Salvation Army, Fountain Hill Elementary School, the VNA and H.O.P.E. recommended the children who participated.
“During this difficult time in our history, it is comforting to see the empathy and concern St. Lukes’ employees have for such a great cause,” Sutera-Wendells said.
Sutera-Wendells also said that she’s grateful to Target for its participation.
Note: This local heath news is brought to you in partnership with St. Luke’s University Health Network (SLUHN). Founded in 1872, St. Luke’s University Health Network is a fully integrated, regional, non-profit network supported by more than 16,000 employees providing services at 12 hospitals and 300+ outpatient sites. The network’s service area includes 11 counties: Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Montgomery, Monroe, Schuylkill and Luzerne counties in Pennsylvania and Warren and Hunterdon counties in New Jersey. Dedicated to advancing medical education, St. Luke’s is also home to the preeminent teaching hospital in east central Pennsylvania.