NewsWatch 12’s 32nd Annual Coats for Kids Campaign begins Saturday | Community [Video]

MEDFORD, Ore– For the 32nd year in a row, NewsWatch 12’s annual Coats for Kids campaign is coming back.

The campaign is the longest running community service project in our station’s history which connects children in need with winter coats donated by members of the community.

The campaign started in Jackson and Klamath Counties in 1990, followed by Josephine County in 1991.

For 29 years our viewers gave new or gently used children’s coats at more than 75 locations in Jackson, Josephine, and Klamath Counties, but the lingering coronavirus pandemic caused us to adjust to online monetary donations for Coats for Kids in 2020 and 2021 when collecting, sorting, cleaning and distributing coats wasn’t practical or prudent during a pandemic. 

However during the two years of the pandemic, local communities across Southern Oregon stepped up to help kids in need and now, in the 30 plus years since the program started, …