School district wants to help others bundle up

TRENTON, Tenn.– Colder temperatures mean bundling up, but not everyone has that option.

“We’ve been sitting in 20 degree weather the past two football games,” Trenton Elementary School guidance counselor Natalie Timbs said.

Colder temperatures in the area sparked an idea in the Trenton Special School District. Two weeks ago, faculty members pulled together and started a coat drive for students.

Timbs says the idea for the coat drive was born in Walter Kilzer Stadium, when she and her mother were attending a Peabody High School football game, and they saw children without coats or proper winter attire.

“She asked how we could help those kids. I started brain storming and thought of a coat drive, and it just started from there,” Timbs said.

Timbs and ‘Project Inspire,’ the after-school program, partnered for this project to help others bundle up.

“It’s sad to see the children out in the cold without the proper attire to wear for the cold temperatures,” Becky Dawson, a fourth grade teacher and co-director of Project Inspire, said.

Dawson says anyone can make donations to the coat drive.

“We are asking for anyone to donate coats, gloves, hats, anything that would help a child or adult stay warm in this cold weather,” Dawson said.

You can drop off donations at Trenton Elementary School, Trenton Rosenwald Middle School, or Peabody High School during the school day.

Organizers say they plan to host a community shopping day for students.