The Sun Risers Extension Club, a local organization presented a 2000 dollar check. The proceeds were the result of a luncheon that the organization recently held here in they decided to donate the funds to "My Student In Need" after hearing about how many students they have helped.

"Because we heard that he had only done it one year and said they helped over 440 students, we were amazed that many students needed, food clothing and shoes",said Francey Armstrong, Chairman of Sun Risers Extension Club.

Now my student in need had no clue they were going to receive a check until the end of last week.

"Our Community Coat Closet" is asking you to share the warmth this winter with students in need.

"Well the weather today is a great reminder of why we need to do this and the cold weather is coming and there's a lot of less fortunate children in our community," said Organizer Cyndi Baker.

That's why Baker partnered with my student in need to create a closet that educators and social workers could use to support kids during the cold winter.

"Well I do know that we run approximately 50% free and reduced lunch in Great Falls so we are considered a poverty community," added Baker.

Lincoln Elementary Family Engagement Advocate Amy Meyer said recess isn't canceled until the temperature reaches zero degrees, which shows just how much of a necessity a coat is.

'There are schools in the area that have a greater need than we do but over the past three years there has been an influx here at Lincoln and we need coats so the kids can get outside at recess and we have a limited amount that they can borrow so they're not missing that," Meyer said.

And while there is no statistics that shows lacking a coat affects attendance Meyer knows it impacts their education.

"But performance most definitely they can't focus if they're freezing their attention isn't there and not prepared for the day," Meyer said.

Service coordinator Kim Wombolt says that even though this drive is in it's first year she knows the community will rally behind this cause.

"You do this drive so that the community has a place to take them. It brings the issue that we are facing into the spotlight and it allows us to collect all of this that people have and are willing to give and then it's here and ready," Wombolt said.

 To donate visit MyNeighborInNeed.org or visit one of these collection sites:

• My Neighbor in Need

• First Liberty Federal Credit Union

• Prairie Mountain Bank

• Scheels

• Great Falls Public Schools Admin. Office

• Wal-Mart

Last year, the nonprofit My Student in Need website fulfilled more than 400 requests for items for local school children, and approximately 75 percent of those items requested were winter coats and gear.

Which is why Dave Snuggs, founder of My Neighbor in Need and My Student in Need, was happy when approached by local resident Cyndi Baker about holding a community coat drive as well as creating a community coat closet to serve those in need.

"This is such a giving community, and coats are such a basic thing," Baker said.

The result of her partnership with Snuggs and the Great Falls Public Schools is a community coat drive that starts Saturday and lasts through Oct. 12. There are multiple sites where people can drop off not just coats, but other winter gear.

All of the coats and gear will then be taken to the My Neighbor in Need thrift store where Snuggs and other volunteers have launched a student community coat closet, which will be accessible to adults who know a kid is in need of winter gear.

"It's a faster way to get a coat in a kid's hands," Snuggs said.

Typically a request for a coat has been fulfilled through the website for My Student in Need. Once the request is posted by a teacher, the school has to wait until a donor sees the request to fulfill it.

By turning to the coat closet instead, Snuggs said the goal will be to have a supply of coats on hand that a teacher or clinician or social worker can come down and pick up right away. Adults will still have to demonstrate the need, but with the coat closet it eliminates the middle man while still giving donors the satisfaction of helping out.

"The reason why people support our program is they don't buy what we do, but they buy why we do it," Snuggs said. "They realize they're making a difference."

Baker said by stockpiling coats, boots, hats, gloves, snow pants and more, it frees up the student website to fulfill "higher-level" need requests such as prescription glasses or meal cards. She also wanted to see the coat drive happen earlier in the year so kids weren't in freezing weather without coats.

In addition to the coat closet being accessible to the schools, Baker said she hopes agencies such as the Great Falls Children's Receiving Home and the Rescue Mission will also utilize the resource. Baker said she also hopes other entities that hold coat drives throughout the year will consider contributing to the coat closet at My Neighbor in Need so there is a central source of supplies for those in need.

"Anybody in the community who works with children can put in a request," Baker said. "It's basically the community taking care of the kids."

Reach Tribune Staff Writer Kristen Cates at 791-1463 or kcates@greatfallstribune.com. Follow her on Twitter @GFTrib_KCates.

New and gently-used coats of all sizes (toddlers on up) can be dropped off at the following locations Oct. 4 to Oct. 12:

First Liberty Federal Credit Unions: 920 Central Ave. W.; 100 Central Ave.; 505 10th Ave. S.

Prairie Mountain Bank: 1019 7th Street S.; 3635 10th Ave. S.

Great Falls Public Schools administration offices: 1100 4th St. S.

Scheels: 1200 10th Ave. S. (Holiday Village Mall)

Wal-Mart: 701 Smelter Ave. NE

My Neighbor in Need: 525 Central Ave. (Times Square building)