Phone Items to (718) 520-0505 QUEENS CLOSEUP New Yorkers Collaborate on Cover-Up 7,000 winter coats pour into warehouse in drive for needy By Maria Georgianis Yun In Sun did not hesitate when he recently gave away 1,000 pieces of his customers' clothing without their knowledge. "We've been trying to reach these customers but they never answered,' said the owner of Sun Cleaners. "They didn't pick up their clothes in at least two years.' Sun didn't know what to do with the items until he saw what was happening in the garage of the Long Island City building in which he rents store space. Part of the garage was donated by building owners S.I.G. Partners to warehouse for a couple of weeks the coats collected for the city's homeless and less fortunate in the first New York Coat Drive. Nearly 7,000 people have been helped this winter because of the drive, organized by New York Cares, a voluntary service group. The coats were collected from donation boxes set up at 15 police precincts around the city. Metro Baptist Church community outreach staffers Perry and Kelly Edwards came to the warehouse hoping to stock up on the coats they will be handing out all winter to the homeless and residents of neighboring welfare hotels. "Three hundred coats go quick," said Kelly, who had wanted to take that many but only received 50. On Thanksgiving day alone, the church handed out 400, she said. "People sometimes come off the street with a T-shirt in the middle of winter," said Steve Rutter, the associate director of social work at Jamaica's Queens Hospital Center, which requested nearly 200 coats. "It's difficult to get winter coats in any large number," said Bernadette Fiori, who was able to get coats for the 30 work-release program inmates under her supervi- sion. "A lot of them haven't earned that much money yet and don't have any winter clothing." Working to blaring rap music, 11 teenage volunteers sorted and placed the coats in plastic bags to be picked up by the agencies. A more somber message was quietly communicated by a photograph of snow-covered tombstones posted in their work area, with the legend: "Last Winter a Lot of New Yorkers Went Cold." "That's a shame," said volunteer Damon Johnson, 17, glancing at the poster. "On my way out here, I see a lot of homeless people. It doesn't make sense.' Johnson said through working at the drive he decided to donate one of his own old coats. "You really can't take this as a joke." "Kids my age make fun of homeless people,' said 18-year-old Franklin Jackson. "People these days care about what they have," he explained. "They don't care about the less fortunate." The teenager and his buddies from the City Volunteer Corps, an agency that provides work experience to young people between the ages of 17 and 20, say they are learning to help themselves as well. Volunteers are working on high school diplomas while they receive either a $5,000 college scholarship or $2,500 dollars for a year of community service. "This is one of the best jobs I've had," said 20-year-old Mark Williams. "Everybody works together as a family." Before he joined the CVC nearly two months ago, Williams said he "was going on the bad side. I was doing reckless things . . I almost lost my life from being shot at." Whenever a homeless person asks for money, any change I have I give," he said. "What goes around comes around." Newsday / Jonathan Fine City Volunteers Winnette Miller, left, and Marcia Williams sort coats. New York Cares
