SCRANTON -- A church in Lackawanna County is helping thousands of local kids this winter by giving them brand new winter coats, part of a fundraiser called Bundle Up.
Members of Parker Hill Community Church were able to get in somewhat of a morning workout on Monday. A van was filled to the roof with boxes of winter coats.
From the van, the volunteers climbed the steps into George Bancroft Elementary School in Scranton.
Inside, less privileged students awaited with smiles on their faces because they're receiving brand new coats.
"If a child doesn't have a good coat, then that affects other parts of their life as well. It affects their ability to stay healthy. It affects their ability to get up and go to school because it's so unpleasant to go out in the cold weather. Sometimes it's, at some level, a source of ridicule if they don't have a decent coat when other kids around them might," said Mark Stuenzi, Parker Hill Community Church.
Boxes and boxes of coats are stacked up. There are 256 total coats: one for every single student at Bancroft Elementary. It's thanks in large part to a nearly $50,000 donation from members of the church.
Parker Hill plans to distribute more than 3,000 coats to 26 local elementary schools and organizations in the area.