School Bulletin: Mitten Tree helps students through winter

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Milwaukee’s first significant snowfall of the season serves as a reminder that winter coats and gloves will be needed for a few more months.

“Those of us who have kids, we've all been in a situation where they've lost hats, gloves and scarves, multiple times in the winter,” Christy Stone, director of Strategic Partnerships and Customer Service at Milwaukee Public Schools, says. “And it's always at the coldest point of the winter season.”

Each October, MPS starts collecting for the Mitten Tree Drive. All the donations of winter weather clothes must be new, and district officials say all sizes – even adult sizes – are needed.

“We always think about our little ones, but our middle and high school students also have needs,” Stone says.

The winter clothes don't stay on the shelves for long. As soon as donations come in, the district says they go straight to the schools.

The Mitten Tree Drive continues until January 21. If you’d like to donate new winter clothes to MPS students, call (414) 773-9823 or drop off items at the Office of Strategic Partnerships and Customer Service at 5225 W. Vliet Street. Monetary donations will also be accepted.