Photo by: Adam Hammerman

The Staff Advisory Council (SAC), which consists of a representative from every academic department at DU, gathered coats from Jan. 30 to yesterday. The cold-weather apparel items will be donated to the Denver Rescue Mission.

According to facilities management and planning office manager Katherine Aliaga, SAC will not pick up the coats until Wednesday or Thursday. So far, Aliaga said they have collected about 300 coats.

“I am happy that we can provide that many coats for the Denver Rescue Mission,” said Aliaga.

Aliaga also said in the past, the drive generated hundreds of items, which were then donated to the homeless. She expects this year’s effort to be equally successful.

“The past years have been a great success,” said Aliaga. “We normally can’t get an exact count of coats and just average by the number of bags we collect. We get about 500-600 coats and other cold-weather items.”

She also said she hoped students returning from home during breaks would donate items they no longer use or wear – adding that the organization is always appreciative of the much-needed items they receive.

“Our hope is that when staff, faculty and students get new coats and cold-weather items over the break, they will come back to campus and donate their older items to the drive,” said Aliaga. “The Denver Rescue Mission is a great organization and are always so appreciative of the coats and other items they receive from us.”

To advertise for the drive, the staff team used a WebCentral email blast and also marketed around campus.

They set up donation boxes with large advertisements to grab students’ eyes and interest. They also contacted season ticket-holders for Ritchie Center sporting events for donations.