SMC provides kids with coats

The SMC Foundation isn’t going to let a pandemic stop them from helping local students in need.

Recently, the foundation was forced to cancel its 10th annual Shoshone Kid’s Health and Fitness Fair, which has historically been a vehicle for one of their most important outreach opportunities.

The event, normally held at the SMC Wellness Center in Smelterville, had provided parents and children with resources to learn more about nutrition, lead screening, headstart programs, and much more. Kids were even given the opportunity to participate in fun, fitness-themed activities.

Above all of this though, the fair was where the foundation held its winter coat donation drive. This drive has been responsible for providing local children with winter coats for the last nine years.

The good news is that thanks to the coordination between the SMC Foundation, SMC Business Development Coordinator Shayleen Jerome and the local school district administrations — kids won’t be left out in the cold.

“We had a phenomenal response from our local community businesses who donated generously to this program to make it all possible,” Jerome said.

To keep the drive alive, Jerome has dropped off order forms at all of the local elementary schools. These forms can be filled out by school administration or staff, or even by parents who contact the school to let them know that they are in need.

From now through December, Jerome will collect the order forms from the schools and drop off coats that were requested in the previous week’s order.

According to Jerome, some schools have already requested coats for some of their students as the chilly fall mornings set in.

For many families, the pandemic has put them in difficult financial situations. Such hardships could lead to things like the heat being shut off in homes, as well as not being able to afford the cost of a winter coat.

In fact, according to One Warm Coat, prior to the pandemic, 41% of all children were living in low-income households and one in five children were living in poverty; so the need for coats may be greater this year than ever before.

Annually, the SMC Foundation donates roughly 300 coats to children in the Silver Valley.

For more information, contact your local school administration.