Carmel Gateway Community Provides Winter Warmth
INDIANAPOLIS, IN — As the cold weather settles across Central Indiana, the MSD Washington Township Schools are partnering with the Carmel Gateway office park for their annual coat drive to ensure students and their families stay warm this winter.
With an increasing population of refugee families experiencing their first Indiana winter and many students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunches, the school district identified a significant need for winter clothing. This effort is being conducted alongside the district’s yearly food drive to provide essential support to families ahead of the holiday break.
A Community Beyond the Office
Carmel Gateway, a premier office park located near 96th Street and College Avenue, is home to more than 60 companies and an estimated 3,100 employees. These employees annually step up to support their neighbors, donating hundreds of coats. Last year alone, the park contributed 450 coats to Washington Township students.
The office park’s community manager, Kennedy Gallagher, explained the motivation behind the continuous effort.
“Carmel Gateway is a large office park right off of 96th and Meridian with over 60 tenants and over 3,000 employees,” said Gallagher. “But we’re more than just an office park, we’re a community.”
Expanding the Reach
The coat collection drive encourages tenants to drop off new or gently used coats, hats, and gloves in lobby boxes. The items were collected and sorted this past Saturday at North Central High School. Gallagher emphasized the importance of reaching beyond the immediate corporate environment to support the future generation. “It’s really important to team up with our local community,” she stated. “These students are our future and we wanted to support them.”
This year, the drive opened up to the wider community to increase its impact. Gallagher noted the success of the collection, estimating the team gathered over “seven or eight really large bags that were donated this year, probably over like 200, 300 coats, a lot of hats, a lot of gloves, all the things.” The sorting day at North Central High School also included organizing canned food donations and hygiene products for families.
“I think one of the best ways to get people together is for a common cause that helps somebody else,” Gallagher concluded. “And a coat drive is a great way to do that, just to support kids to stay warm in the winter.”
Referred families within the MSD Washington Township district will receive the donated coats, food, and hygiene products during a private distribution event on December 13th at North Central High School.
