Coats for Kids: Mat-Su Home Builders Association Inc establishes new youth program

WASILLA — The Mat-Su Home Builders Association recently launched a new youth program dedicated to helping local children stay warm during the winter.

According to a recent press release, MSHBA established the Coats for Kids program, purchasing numerous gift cards to be distributed to families with children in need of a winter coat. Gift cards will be distributed to 48 schools across the Matanuska Borough School District.

“The goal is to get the assistance to the school nurses; to allow them to discretely pass along the gift cards to kids who are going without something that will make their life easier.” MSHBA committee chair Dan Vannoy stated in the press release. “We trust the staff understands their community and the students; if the educators see it best to use the cards to load up on different cold weather gear for specific kids or just to have available at their location, I see that as a win as well. We understand not all families have access to travel.”

MSHBA Executive Director, Sarah Lazzarotto indicated that she's confident that the program will continue to grow upward and onward with the help of kind hearted community members.

“Our community is wonderfully generous. We’ve been met with support each time we’ve fundraised with a focus on youth development. We’ll continue to fundraise for accessible workforce development programs, but after the last couple rough winters we have had, we just want to make sure our valley students are warm," Lazzarotto stated in the press release. “This is something I’ve been thinking about for a while, especially during Covid when you start to hear about how many kids rely on the schools being open for meals, a safe environment, and other services that we don’t think about on the day to day.”

Alaska's long and cold winter, the sense of urgency for warm clothing is always felt in the community.

“It’s startling to think about how many kids in the Mat-Su go without. My hope is that we can find immediate success with the initial program kick-off and move toward making this a staple for the MSHBA to back with different fundraisers throughout the year," Vannoy stated in the press release.

According to the press release, MSHBA is the Valley’s largest home building trade advocacy group with a mission to help locals access quality and attainable housing. It features over 110 members from all walks of life, including carpenters to roofers, painters, plumbers, and electricians.

MSHBA is dedicated to charitable efforts such as disaster relief assistance, aging-in-place and accessibility programs for seniors, building trade-training programs, and job readiness activities for youth.

For more information about the Coats for Kids program, visit matsuhomebuilders.com or call 907-376-2620.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com