UMassFive Donates Hundreds of Winter Coats, Clothing Items

HADLEY — UMassFive College Federal Credit Union announced that its members, staff, and community partners have donated hundreds of winter coats and clothing items to Amherst Survival Center, the Gray House in Springfield, and Net of Compassion in Worcester. Donations were gathered through a collection drive held at UMassFive’s Hadley, Northampton, Springfield, and Worcester branches this fall.

“We were eager to try and get coats into the community earlier this year,” said Cait Murray, Community Outreach manager at UMassFive, noting on the change in timing of this annual drive. “Our members and employees answered the call by making this our most successful donation collection since we began running it over a decade ago.”

For the third year in a row, UMassFive employee volunteers also sorted and organized donations received at their Hadley and Northampton branches into a winter clothing pop-up boutique at the Amherst Survival Center. Neighbors in need were welcomed to the boutique, where they could ‘shop’ for free new and used winter clothing items. This pop-up alone helped provide 364 items to 182 shoppers.

Donations from the credit union’s Springfield branch were brought to the Gray House in the North End of Springfield, which will help support some of its most vulnerable community members. Donations received at UMassFive’s Worcester branch were delivered to Net of Compassion, an organization that directly provides food, clothing, shelter, showers, and recovery support to individuals on the streets of Worcester.

UMassFive invites anyone looking to directly support the Amherst Survival Center, the Gray House, or Net of Compassion to visit amherstsurvival.org, grayhouse.org, or netofcompassion.org.