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About Coats for Kids

  • Coats for Kids began in 1999 to provide winter coats to needy students in Davenport, Diocese of Davenport, and Pleasant Valley Schools.

  • The program is named after Dr. David E. Lane, an administrator in Davenport Schools, who was on the program’s organizing committee when he died in 1999.

  • In 2001, Coats for Kids was relocated to the Mississippi Bend Area Education Agency in Bettendorf due to space issues at Davenport Schools

  • It expanded during 2002-2003 to include more school districts in Clinton, Jackson, Muscatine, and Scott Counties as well as parts of Cedar and Louisa Counties.

  • Coats for Kids relies on donations of gently used children’s coats by local residents and funding from community members, local businesses, and community organizations.

  • Funding for the program is used to purchase coats that are still needed after coat donations from the community and to clean the donated used coats.

  • The Program operates on volunteer power; they send, receive, sort, and fill order forms.

  • Order forms are sent to schools and community agencies in the area to be filled out so kids who need coats receive them.

  • The coats are distributed via Mississippi Bend AEA van delivery in Eastern Iowa, or they can be picked up at Mississippi Bend AEA in Bettendorf, Iowa.

  • Coats for Kids was restructured between 2007-2008 to include a Board of Directors, Operational Group, Communication Group, and Foundation account to self-sustain program for future area students in need. The Program expanded to schools in Western Illinois.

  • Since the program's inception, the Dr. David E. Lane Coats for Kids Program has distributed 36,951 coats have been distributed to area children, fulfilling their basic needs.