Local Group Seeks “Koats for Kids”
By Chris Seymour | Correspondent at October 22, 2023 | 6:00 pm | Print
It may seem way early to be thinking about cold weather, but Welcome to my World Autism —a New-Britain-based support group for families with an autistic child—already has winter on its mind.
That’s because the group is currently holding its 6th annual “Koats for Kids” drive (it started Sept. 1) through Dec. 15, and is seeking new or gently-used coats, hats, gloves and scarves for city youth in grades K-8.
Those interested in donating are asked to place the items in a drop box at Roma Bar and Restaurant, 382 Allen St., or at Thomas Jefferson Elementary School, 140 Horseplain Rd. Folks can also contact Welcome to My World Autism co-founder Stephen Arasimowicz at 860-259-5790 to have him pick up the items they wish to donate.
The cold weather clothing collected via the Koats for Kids drive this fall will be donated to Thomas Jefferson Elementary School and Pulaski Middle School for distribution to their students.
Arasimowicz and his family hold special bonds with both of those schools. That’s because Arasimowicz attended both Jefferson and Pulaski, as did his three adult children, including his daughter Jessica, who is now a grade 8 English teacher at Pulaski. All five members of the Arasimowicz family, including Arasimowicz’s wife Livia, are graduates of New Britain High School.
All too often Arasimowicz says he sees kids walking to and from school in the wintertime without adequate protection from the elements; with Koats for Kids, he aims to address that problem and keep kids warm when old man winter grips the Hardware City.
“I see a lot of kids walking to school sometimes with t-shirts on, when it gets cold out, along with no hats, no gloves, no scarves, and definitely not a good thick jacket,” he stated.
Even though the coat drive is only about six weeks old, and many people are still struggling to get used to fall never mind winter, Arasimowicz says he has already received a good amount of donations.
“A lot of people at my job have donated a lot of stuff already,” he explained. “But I also contacted some people on Facebook and let them know to clean out their closets and ‘let me get your hats, gloves, your jackets’—so I got some items that way,” he said. “The community has always been generous to us and the people who receive it are very appreciative.”
Cash donations are also welcome and would be used to augment the items donated by the general public.
“We will do exactly what we did last year—we ended up going to Target and we ended up going to Walmart and grabbing a bunch of gloves, hats and scarves for girls and boys from the money people donated,” said Arasimowicz.
Arasimowicz and his wife Livia started Welcome to My World Autism almost six years ago in January 2010; according to its website, Welcome to My World Autism is “a dedicated group of parents who want to raise public awareness about autism and its effects on individuals, families and society.”
For more information on the group, please visit welcometomyworldautism.org.
