Brooklyn Nets player Ben Simmons recently partnered with nonprofit organization Operation Warm to provide brand-new coats to children.
During his annual Ben Simmons Coat Giveback event — which took place at Brooklyn's PS 124 Silas B Dutcher Elementary — Simmons gifted new warm winter coats to over 2,600 local kids in total.
The goal behind the initiative is to assist in preparing families and their children for cold days in the future while simultaneously reducing any financial burdens of purchasing children's winter clothes.
“I love this event and am proud to be doing this in New York,” said Simmons.
“A new coat creates an opportunity to empower a young person by giving them confidence, offering them warmth and helping students attend school and play with their friends.”
Simmons and his foundation, the Ben Simmons Family Foundation, first teamed up with Operation Warm — an organization that manufactures high-quality coats and shoes for children in need — for his inaugural Ben Simmons Coat Giveback event back in 2017.
Since then, Simmons has been able to provide a total of over 7,800 new coats to children in need. All new coats have been handed out through elementary schools and nonprofit organizations supporting underserved communities in New York.
"Our partnership with Ben and the Simmons Family Foundation these last five years has positively impacted thousands of children,” said Grace Sica, executive director for Operation Warm.
"We are grateful to be a part of that legacy.”