The Hispanic Center of Greater Danbury efforts receive national recognition for participation in Warm Coats & Warm Hearts Coat Drive. National effort recognized with Gold Halo Award from Cause Marketing Forum.

June, 2008, Danbury, CT – The Hispanic Center of Greater Danbury, Inc. and the local Burlington Coat Factory store today announced that their participation in the first ever Warm Coats & Warm Hearts Coat Drive is being recognized with a Gold Halo Award for Local/National Integration given by the Cause Marketing Forum. The Warm Coats & Warm Hearts Coat Drive, sponsored by ABC News’ “Good Morning America” in partnership with Burlington Coat Factory and One Warm Coat raised 175,125 coats. The Hispanic Center was one of 200 agencies across the country that received the coats.

The Hispanic Center distributed the coats collected locally to local people in need free of charge, a founding principal of One Warm Coat.

“It is really tremendous what can happen when people combine their strengths to help those in need,” commented Executive Director, Ms. Eva L. Colón from the Hispanic Center, “One Warm Coat invited us to participate. Burlington Coat Factory provided the local retail drop off locations and employee manpower for coat collection and ‘Good Morning America’ reached out to its viewers around the country to donate their gently used coats.”

The Warm Coats & Warm Hearts Coat drive was launched on December 6, 2007 with Ben Affleck having the honors of donating the first coats with Diane Sawyer on Good Morning America. "GMA" also reached out to some of Broadway and Hollywood's biggest stars and manufacturing/clothing companies to donate coats to people in need. Burlington Coat Factory accepted coat donations at its 379 stores in 44 states. One Warm Coat worked with over 200 nonprofit organizations across the country to accept and redistribute the donated coats to those in need free of charge.

The Hispanic Center’s participation helped the Warm Coats & Warm Hearts Coat Drive win the Gold Halo Award for best National/Local Integration: A campaign that successfully integrates local chapters and/or business units into a national cause-related campaign.

About One Warm Coat:

One Warm Coat is a national non-profit organization that assists in the donation of coats. One Warm Coat helps individuals, groups, companies and organizations across the country collect coats and deliver them to local agencies that distribute them free, to people in need. The organization’s mission is to ensure that anyone who needs a coat has one. Providing this simple, yet vital, service helps people live productive lives year round. Since inception, more than 750,000 coats have been collected and distributed through One Warm Coat activities. For more information go to www.onewarmcoat.org.

About Good Morning America:

ABC News' "Good Morning America" is anchored by Diane Sawyer and Robin Roberts. Chris Cuomo is the news anchor and Sam Champion is the weather anchor. The morning news program airs live Monday through Friday from 7:00am to 9:00am/EDT on the ABC Television Network. Jim Murphy is the senior executive producer and Tom Cibrowski is the executive producer of ABC News' "Good Morning America."

About Burlington Coat Factory:

Burlington Coat Factory is a nationally recognized retailer of high quality, branded apparel at every day low prices. Burlington Coat Factory opened its first store in Burlington, New Jersey in 1972, selling primarily coats and outerwear. Since then, Burlington Coat Factory has expanded its store base to 379 stores in 44 states, and diversified product categories by offering an extensive selection of in-season, fashion-focused merchandise, including: ladies sportswear, menswear, coats, family footwear, baby furniture and accessories, as well as home décor and gifts. All stores are company-operated, and nearly all are located in high traffic areas such as strip malls and shopping center in various locations.

Burlington Coat Factory was founded in 1972 by the Milstein family and purchased by Bain Capital in 2006. Additional information can be found online at www.BurlingtonCoatFactory.com.