Coats for Kids giving is set for Saturday at Capitol Cleaners

Rick Pfeiffer -, Niagara Gazette, Niagara Falls, N.Y.
·2 min read

Dec. 8—It is a Falls holiday tradition that has endured for more than half a century.

It was created on a bitter cold winter day, when Joseph Petrozzi looked out the window of his Capitol Cleaners store on Main Street and saw two young boys, wearing only lightweight windbreaker jackets, on their way to school.

"My dad saw them walking and he went out and told them to come into the store," Russ Petrozzi recalled. "He had a couple of old winter coats of mine, they were clean, and he took them and gave them to the kids. It was too cold for them to be out there with just those windbreakers on."

And that was the start of what has now become the Coats for Kids campaign, an endeavor that each and every year looks to provide warm winter gear to kinds and adults in need. The effort has been embraced by other dry cleaners throughout the the U.S. as well.

"It blossomed really quickly," Petrozzi said.

His dad, who's 94 and "still going strong," began reaching out to customers and searching his children's closets year-round to stock up on warm winter wear that could be given away.

"It started with people who has just left stuff at the store (and forgotten about it)," Petrozzi said. "Then my dad started asking customers (if they had coats) to donate. If we had stuff we weren't wearing, he'd collect that too."

Over the years, the Petrozzi's have succeeded in gathering up a good supply of coats, and even hats and gloves. But every year the need for warm clothing seems to grow.

The pandemic years also made it difficult to collect as many coats as needed, but Petrozzi said this holiday season they are pretty well stocked.

"We have coats for all ages and we have most sizes," he said. "We have some hats and gloves, but we could use more and we especially could use some ski jackets."

Petrozzi said donations can be dropped off at any Capitol Cleaners store and, "We'll clean 'em up and repair them if they need it."

The time to give is growing short. Those looking to receive coats will be able to do so at the Capitol Cleaners store, 1227 Main St., from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday.

"If you need a coat, come to the Main Street store and we'll do our best to accommodate you," Petrozzi said. "There's nothing worse than seeing someone walking around in the winter without a warm coat."