In the heat of summer, local steelworkers help efforts for winter warmth

Jul. 5—FARRELL — It may be sweltering hot outside now, but a donation from the workers at NLMK Pennsylvania will help those in need stay warm when the temperatures drop later this year.

During a golf outing June 25 at Deer Creek Golf Course to support the nonprofit organization Youngstown Blue Coats, local steelworker Terry Day presented Blue Coats' President Patty Summers a donation of $2,500.

Accompanied by his granddaughters Nemily and B, Day said the donation was raised by employees of the Farrell steel mill who participate in drawings organized by day.

Terry and the participating employees have made similar donations to other local nonprofits over the years, including to the Salvation Army and Prince of Peace Center in Farrell, totaling about $40,000 in donations annually.

So far the workers have donated $8,500 to the Youngstown Blue Coats in particular over the past few years, Day said.

The Youngstown Blue Coats, whose goal is to make sure no one in America freezes to death, provides winter items to help keep people warm, ranging from boots, coats and scarves to tents, tarps and para-cord, Summers said.

Volunteers with the organization also make "love mats," or mats designed to give the homeless something to sleep on instead of the cold ground.

The organization supports people in Trumbull, Mahoning, Columbiana, Geauga, Summit and Cuyahoga counties in Ohio, and Mercer, Lawrence, Butler, Allegheny and Beaver counties in Pennsylvania.

Distributions are organized by working with about 54 agencies across the various counties, Summers said.

"We try to provide anything that can help people keep their extremities warm, which can be an issue with the homeless and people who have homes but can't pay their gas bills," Summers said.

The organization received its 501©(3) charitable status in 2017 and originally focused on homeless veterans but later expanded to include the general public due to the demand among those in need.

Now the Youngstown Blue Coats holds distributions for veteran organizations from Nov. 1 through Nov. 30, followed by general distributions from Dec. 1 through Dec. 31, Summers said.

"We started out by honoring veterans, but there were so many people in need — it's heartbreaking," Summers said.

Aside from the Blue Coats' involvement in distributions here in the Shenango Valley, Day said the nonprofit's focus on supporting veterans was especially important since about a quarter of NLMK Pennsylvania's employees are themselves veterans.

"A pretty high number of the homeless are veterans, and a lot of us here at NLMK are veterans," Day said.

In their first year, the Youngstown Blue Coats helped about 10 people — but that has increased to about 2,500 people helped per year, including almost 500 veterans, Summers said.

This latest donation by the NLMK Pennsylvania workers will go toward supplies, such as tents and tarps.

The nonprofit is able to stretch its donated dollars since the Youngstown Blue Coats only employs volunteers, and only needs to purchase supplies, pay gas for their bus and pay rent for their office, Summers said.

"What they gave us, we can do a lot with because we're very frugal with what we buy," Summers said.

The Youngstown Blue Coats is fundraising during the summer and need volunteers to help with inventory and assist with distributions, Summers said.

More information can be found at ytownbluecoats.org, the "Youngstown Blue Coats" Facebook page, or by emailing ytownbluecoats@gmail.com.

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