Highmark Inc. Teams with Operation Warm to Provide New Winter Coats for Childr...( Pennsylvania children receive jackets...),Health

Pennsylvania children receive jackets to help brave the winter cold

PITTSBURGH, Dec. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- With this year's first snowfall already a distant memory, winter has arrived in Pennsylvania. As children head outside to wait at the bus stop, visit with family during the holidays or simply play with friends, it is important for them to bundle up and keep warm.

To help those who are less fortunate endure the cold winter weather ahead, Highmark Inc. recently awarded $19,000 in grants to Operation Warm to provide new winter jackets for underprivileged children across Pennsylvania.

According to the National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP), 16% of children in Pennsylvania are considered to be poor, meaning their family income is below 100 percent of the federal poverty level. Sadly, many of these children do not have access to the appropriate clothing to stay warm.

"Highmark's partnership with Operation Warm allows us to help hundreds of children in the communities we serve stay warm during the winter," said Yvonne Cook, vice president of community and health initiatives. "We are proud to provide Operation Warm with the assistance to help them carry out their mission each year."

• In Pittsburgh, some 300 children from the Clairton, Stowe Rox and Wilkinsburg school districts received coats through Operation Warm.

• Just outside of Erie, some 500 children in the rural communities of Cameron, Elk, Forest, McKean and Potter Counties and 100 students in the Oil City school district in Venango County received new coats.

• And in the Harrisburg region, 400 children in Berks, Dauphin and Franklin counties are wearing new coats thanks to Operation Warm and Highmark.

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