Editor’s note: When the holidays come around, many of us go out of our way to help others in need. But some dedicated Napa County residents go to extraordinary lengths to help others year-round. This series of articles tells some of their stories.

By CARLOS VILLATORO

Register Staff Writer

Ray Urbano is a busy guy.

When he isn’t patrolling the streets as a Napa Police officer, he’s busy amassing coats for Coats for Kids, a program that provides coats, toys and holiday cheer for needy families throughout Napa.

On a rainy Saturday afternoon, 250 or more families gathered at First Baptist Church on First Street and were the benefactors of Urbano and his counterparts’ efforts. Families were treated to coats, toys, books, clothes and a holiday meal consisting of ham, salad, mashed potatoes and bread.

In October, Urbano begins the massive effort to collect the new or gently-used coats and get his coworkers and fellow parishioners involved in the process. Even local businesses like Downtown Joe’s get in the act, offering discounts to patrons who bring in donations.

The first Coats for Kids event was held in 2003 and Urbano, his wife DeeDee and several church volunteers delivered the coats directly to 100 families. Since then, he got the Napa City Fire Department, Napa County Sheriff’s Department and Napa Police Department involved in the program.

What’s with the coats?

Urbano said he first got the idea to hold Coats for Kids through his work as a police officer in Cal Poly and Arroyo Grande police departments. He was involved in Santa Cops, a program that gathered gifts for needy children, but Urbano wanted to go a step beyond Santa Cops and give families something that they could really use.

“Warm coats last through the duration of the long winter months,” he said. “I’ve been in situations where people didn’t have the money to pay utilities.”

This year, Urbano estimated, 500 families will get warm coats and toys for under the Christmas tree. His goal is to double the number of recipients each year. He estimates that there are 5,000 people in the Napa Valley that are impoverished or have a low enough income to qualify for the Coats for Kids program.

Urbano’s need to give back to the community began four years ago, when he became a born-again Christian and a member of First Baptist Church.

“I was a lot like other people,” he said. “My whole focus was personal gain. It’s changed my philosophy. I’m not trying to gather, I’m trying to give back.”

With that philosophy of giving back to the community, Urbano started Coats for Kids and other endeavors. As a police officer — assigned to the department’s motorcycle traffic enforcement division — Urbano visits Napa schools to inform youths about traffic laws.

When he isn’t patrolling the streets in his motorcycle or working on Coats for Kids, Urbano does a bit of drag racing as a member of the National Hot Rod Association. He uses his drag racer, he said, to deter drivers from participating in illegal street races and sideshows.

Urbano has been a police officer since 1977. He came to the Napa Police Department six years ago, he said. One of the things he likes most about working in Napa, he said, is the people he works with.

Urbano said his coworkers, fellow parishioners and many local nonprofit agencies and donors were instrumental in making Coats for Kids happen. Coats that weren’t given away Saturday were donated to missionaries.

“People in Napa really step up to the place when something is needing,” he said.