With Frigid Temps Setting in, New Car Dealers Deliver Thousands of Coats to NYers in Need

NEW YORK - Jan. 27, 2020 - PRLog -- With temperatures continuing to drop and many New Yorkers suffering through the frigid season without proper winter coats to keep them warm, new car dealers in the New York area helped to lead the effort to collect winter coats, by collecting more than 9,000, or roughly 10% of the total, for the New York Cares 2019-20 Winter Coat Drive.

A record 195 new car dealerships joined with their communities, bringing the total collected by members of the Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association (GNYADA) to nearly 60,000 since teaming up with New York Cares in 2012. New York Cares has collected and distributed more than 2 million coats since the annual drive began 31 years ago.

By hosting collection sites in dealer showrooms, franchise dealers have been able to dramatically scale up their collections in a short time, becoming the top multi-location collector of the annual drive.

A final batch of coats was loaded onto a waiting truck Friday at Koeppel Mazda in Jackson Heights, whose dealership group collected more than 200 coats this winter. They were then delivered to the New York Cares warehouse in Manhattan to be distributed to New Yorkers in need of warmth this winter.

"Our member dealers have shown a sustained, enthusiastic and generous dedication to extend the reach and volume of the coat drive once again this year, joining with their communities throughout the region to deliver much-needed new and gently used coats to New Yorkers facing a long, cold winter," said Mark Schienberg, President of GNYADA. "This is a great example of the enormous charitable impact that our industry plays in the community.  Many new car dealers participate in local charities in towns and neighborhoods throughout downstate New York. Once again, when there are people in need of help, new car dealers have always shown their compassion and desire to assist."

"We are incredibly grateful to local partners like GNYADA who dedicate their time, staff and resources to support the New York Cares coat drive every year," said Gary Bagley, Executive Director of New York Cares. "We are thankful for these dealerships and their compassionate communities, who have supported our ultimate mission, helping all New Yorkers in need stay warm during the long winter months."

In addition to locations throughout the five boroughs, new car dealers are the only collectors to extend the drive's reach to Long Island, Westchester, Rockland and beyond.

The 2019-2020 New York Cares Coat Drive aimed to collect 100,000 new or gently used coats total.