SouthCoast Residents Urged to Help Coats for Kids Coat Drive

A Taunton businessman is continuing a 32-year tradition.

Once again, Terry Dermody of Dermody Cleaners is collecting, cleaning and donating coats to children in need. He joined Townsquare Sunday to raise awareness about the coat drive and its history.

Dermody Cleaners has been in business in Taunton for about 70 years. It has four locations: two in Taunton and one each on GAR Highway in Somerset and Bedford Street in Lakeville. All four locations will accept "gently used" coats for kids and adults, too.

"My grandfather operated a laundry business in Taunton, and later my father and uncle started a dry-cleaning service in the mid 1950s," Dermody said. "I can't pinpoint who or when the coat drive started, but I recall hearing about a cleaning business somewhere collecting coats to help families in the winter, and thought it would be a wonderful idea to help keep kids warm during the coldest months of the year."

Here's how the coat drive works: the public is invited to drop off coats at any of the four Dermody locations. Dermody will clean all the coats, and then pass them on to St. Vincent de Paul Center in Taunton for distribution.

"St. Vincent de Paul has a network of partners, so when they have a surplus of coats, they find other charities in Southeastern Massachusetts to help distribute the coats to kids and families that need them," he said.

Dermody said that over the years, Dermody Cleaners has collected more than 50,000 coats, thanks to donations from the public and local corporations and businesses.

Here are the drop-off locations for the Coats for Kids Coat Drive:

34 Cohannet St. in downtown Taunton

648 County Street, Taunton

330 Bedford Street, Lakeville

Press Club on Route 6, Somerset

If you would like your non-profit organization or charity featured on Townsquare Sunday, please email jim.phillips@townsquaremedia.com.