Sophia Shader and Campbell Gore, both LFHS Sophomores, continue to make a difference in surrounding communities by running a yearly coat drive through the Mother’s Trust Fund.

The coat drive is held at the Foss Park Rec Center on November 18th.

Shader and Gore go around finding volunteers for their drive. Each volunteer is assigned a location in which they drop off a box in said location. The volunteer assigned to said location checks the boxes once a week. The boxes are checked from October 10th to November 10th.

The night before the drive, all of the volunteers come together and sort all of the coats and winter accessories (hats, gloves, blankets, shoes, and scarves) based on women’s, men’s, teen boys, teen girls, little boy’s, little girl’s, toddlers, and infants.

“Every single volunteer involved is so appreciated by us because we could not have done it without them,” said Shader.

They then bag every accessory and coat and bag it up based on the category that everything is put in. The bags are then put in a UHaul truck and sent to the rec center.

On November 18th, the day of the distribution, the volunteers came together again, took all the bags, and spread out all the coats and accessories on tables.

The families can then come in and find the coats and accessories that fit and will be loved.

Shader and Gore are non-stop busy during October and November to improve others’ holiday seasons.

Although this is a charity event, these girls feel rewarded by the end of their drive.

“Handing out coats is one of the most rewarding feelings because it leaves you feeling good knowing you made a difference in somebody’s life,” said Gore.

Shader feels very similar to Gore when she says, “The most rewarding part is honestly just seeing the smile appear on people’s faces when they find the coat that fits them.”

The coat drive continues to grow yearly, and these girls cannot wait to see how it grows next year.

The Lake Forest and Lake Bluff communities have been and hopefully will continue to be, a great help within this drive.

Shader expresses how she hopes the word can get around LFHS: “It would be great for this to be announced in some way to the school and have everyone donate coats.”

Shader and Gore will continue to keep all these families warm and happy during the holiday seasons.