My Nonprofit Reviews

Winter Came Early
Winter came early and hard in Birmingham, AL this year. The Power of Life Foundation, always finding a way to serve the public decided to host a winter coat drive to give away coats for the cold weather season this year. We signed up to be part of One Warm Coat to receive coats in the Birmingham, Area.
It was part of our Hearth and Soul project titled the Power of Life Winter Coat Explosion Giveaway. This project was a way for the Foundation to help keep people warm during the winter. We knew the residents of Birmingham would desperately need coats, gloves, hats, socks and other items, and we just need a few partners to help us make it all reality.
Jennifer was the first person to call and say that the residents of the Grand Highlands Apartments in Vestavia Hills wanted to gather coats for our coat drive. Jennifer works for Daniel Corporation. Daniel Corporation is a leader in commercial and residential real estate. Grand Highland donated more than 80 coats for the event. A special thank you goes to Jennifer and Ashley for coordinating the drive.
The Foundation received another call from Natalie of Family Promise. Family Promise works with families that are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. Natalie called about our coat drive but, was instrumental in helping the Foundation with coats for children, and assistance with our adopted family, The McCalls. The McCall children lost both of their parents last fall to COVID-19, and are now being raised by their aunt and grandmother. https://www.wbrc.com/2020/11/29/birmingham-woman-raising-children-after-her-sister-unexpectedly-died-covid-/. The McCall children range in age from 2 through 17 years old. The Power of Life Foundation decided to help the family with immediate needs such as toilet paper, paper towel, laundry detergent and of course face masks. Natalie was instrumental in helping us provide those needs to the children. Natalie and Family Promise donated 100 kids coats, hats, scarves and gloves to our Winter Coat Explosion Giveaway.
In December, we received a message from the Starr Family who recently learned about the Power of Life Foundation from a news story. We told them about the Foundation’s plan for a Winter Coat Explosion, and the family took time out over the holidays to gather coats for our coat drive.
The Foundation was also contacted by Andrew of LKQ Automotive. They had recently heard of our visit to Jacksonville, FL and the different locations we were impacting and wanted to collect coats for the Winter Coat Explosion. Andrew collected coats from LKQ Automotive in Birmingham, AL, Montgomery, AL and Atlanta, GA. We were grateful to receive approximately 80 coats from LKQ Automotive.
Cedric from Walmart gave us a 50% clearance on winter coats and the Foundation purchased another $500 of brand new men’s coats in larger sizes for the event.
The Power of Life Foundation partnered with Todd Morris and the Housing Authority of Birmingham District to assist us with this project. An invitation was sent to all of their residents from various housing district to attend. We collected more than 400 gently used and new coats for the giveaway.
On January 31, 2021 at 10 AM, the Winter Coat Explosion took place at the Smithfield Gym in Birmingham, AL. It was a cool morning, but residents were already lining up outside to be first in line for a winter coat. The residents completed a form for the number of coats needed along with a COVID-19 Self-Assessment and then they were welcomed into the gym. They were greeted by great, uplifting music, kind words by the Power of Life Foundation Executive Director, Lane Harper, or the Foundation staff, and instructions on how to maintain social distance and have a great shopping experience.

The residents enjoyed being able to take their time to pick out something they really liked.
The setup was a beautiful display of coats in sections that were socially distanced. Girls Coats (included an infant section), Boys Coats, a table with free Bombas socks, gloves, scarves, and hats, Ladies’ Coats, Men’s Coats, then an exit table with free face masks by the Power of Life Foundation, and delicious cookies by Bud’s Best Cookies. All coats were beautiful displayed on coats racks donated by Burlington Coat Factory.
How the people danced and enjoyed their shopping experience. Many of the coats were brand new with the price tags still on them. We had an awesome day.
Distribution:
• More than 350 coats
• 250 pair of Bombas socks
• 30 pair of gloves
• 10 hats
• 2 scarves
• 1,350 face masks
• 600 packs of cookies

Demographics:
• 100% of the residents served were at or below the poverty level
• 35% Women
• 30% Male transient and veterans
• 20% children (due to COVID-19, we asked that only the heads of households to attend unless they had no one to care for their children)
• 10% senior citizens

Race:
90% African American
8% White
2% Other

Volunteer Engagement:
19 total volunteers
Gender:
9 Women
10 Men

Race:
14 African American
3 White
2 Hispanic

We were grateful for this partnership and to be able to serve with the Housing Authority of Birmingham District.