St. John's students warm up the season

St. John's Catholic School pre-kindergarten and sixth-grade classrooms recently held coat drives for those in need. According to St. John's sixth-grade room mother Becky Walker, the coat drive idea grew from the idea to help Napa's homeless adults.

"Christmas is usually focused on the younger children in need and families," said Walker. "We wanted to focus on the homeless population here in Napa County, which is mostly adults," she said.

This is the second year the students have collected adult coats. "This class is going to do this coat drive every year for the remaining years they are at St. John's," said Walker. More than 50 adult coats were collected from sixth grade families and donated to Napa's Hope Center.

"I am very fortunate to have warm clothes," wrote sixth-grader Kurtis Sylvester. "I wanted to give to those people who don't have any," he said.

Rosa Rios-Grace is a St. John's parent as well as social worker who works with the Hope Center. She brought the coats to the center where clients were able to take what they needed. Rios-Grace described her client's reactions.

"They were very, very appreciative and thankful that people are thinking about them," she said. "One client picked out a coat for himself and then for someone else. He said 'this one will be perfect for a lady out by the river that doesn't come in much,'" said Rios-Grace.

"Homeless people can't own or keep a lot of things; they may have one backpack to carry all their belongings," said Rios-Grace. "It's nice for clients to be able to go into the Hope Center and ask for what they need right then," she added.

Rios-Grace estimated there are 550 to 600 homeless adults in Napa.

St. John's Catholic School pre-kindergarten class also held a coat drive.

According to pre-kindergarten parent Shelly Salcedo, about 200 coats in all sizes were collected by the 4-year-old students and donated to Catholic Charities.

"This project is a good way for pre-kindergarteners to do something hands-on to help other people, especially during the holiday season," said pre-kindergarten teacher Jodi Andino. She described Tyler Douglas, 4, contributing a coat to the drive.

"He dropped his coat into the box and said, 'This is for children who don't have coats,'" said Andino.

"We talk about helping people all the time, and this definitely reinforced that," said Andino.