BY: Keith S. Shikowitz, Editor in Chief/Investigative Reporter
The United States has been called the greatest country God has ever created. We are probably the top industrial nation and one of the wealthiest in the world. Yet we have a major homelessness and poverty problem where people can’t even afford to buy winter coats. If not for people donating to non-profits and people like Senator Bill Weber, hundreds if not thousands of people would not have coats to keep them warm in the winter.
This year marks Weber’s third annual winter coat drive. As of December 13, over 7200 pounds of clothing was donated to the cause. With so much donated, Weber and his staff set up a coat sorting event at the Zukor Park auditorium to separate the clothes and shoes into male, female and then broken down by size. The clothes were piled on tables labeled with the size and then put into big plastic bags and the size put on it. The bags will be sent to non-profits for distribution to those in need.
Senator Bill Weber, the mastermind of this whole insanity going on around him, what made you decide to do this three years ago?
“Well, it was important. We listened to and spoke with many nonprofits in the area who had indicated that there’s such a big need for coats, hats, gloves, shoes, so we were more than willing to take on the cause. This year we have over 7000 pounds of coats and hats and gloves, and it’s an amazing testament to the generosity of the people of Rockland. We’re so happy with the turnout and really with the generosity of the county.”
As of Thursday, John Mulgrew, Weber’s Chief of Staff said the exact number was 7,169 pounds. Could it have gone up since then?
“Probably, yeah, we still have more to pick up throughout some of the bins, but we obviously had to get most of it done today, so we’re out here and so many people came in and volunteered to help us sort through this stuff. So, it’s great. We’ll have updated numbers at the end because we still have some more stuff to pick up, but it’s just amazing. We have so many people out here volunteering and helping along.
Volunteers got there before 10:00. The sorting started at 10:00 and ran until early afternoon or until they were done. They were sorting everything by various sizes, male, female, and by children’s sizes as well and according to Weber it’s a big operation, but they had so many people coming in and volunteering so it’s great.
How many boxes do you have around the county through all this?
“I think we had it at every town hall in my district plus we had them at every library in the Catskill Library System, so you get probably about 20 or 30 boxes at least.
Just to show how fast people were donating, on Thursday, December 11, 2025, the box at Clarkstown Town Hall was almost full. Mulgrew told me he had just emptied that box two days earlier.
“We, know there’s other ones that are still filled that we still have to pick up, but obviously we have to, do what we do today and start getting them all sorted. So, we’ll go and do the final, run around to the various sites. We’re gonna start doing distribution next week to the various nonprofits that, that have requested stuff, and we’ll start delivering.
I made a fun “bet” with Weber on the final poundage total of clothing, I am saying they will be close to 10,000 pounds. He says 7500 pounds We’ll see what the final numbers say. Looks like Senator Weber “won” the final total was 8192 pounds of clothes.
I also want to thank Durso Trucking. Durso Trucking came and picked up all the bags at our office, and I filled the entire truck, big truck.
Among the volunteers were a number of elected officials from all over the district. Darrel Fraiser the Mayor of Sloatsburg joined the party.
“Good morning. I am so happy to be here to help with this drive to be here today helping separate these coats under our Senator Bill Weber’s direction. He’s doing a great job. This is the 3rd year he’s done this, and it is for a very good cause to keep our needy families warm through the holiday season with these lovely coats that were donated from our community. Cheers and all the best to everyone. Happy holidays.
Three Clarkstown Board members were in attendance helping with the sorting. Mike Graziano representative from Ward 2 was among them.
“We’re here. Bill Weber’s done a great job and John Mulgrew I mean, as chief of staff, look at this kind of clothes over 7,000 pounds of clothing maybe about 8000 pounds. It’s crazy, it’s a great, great, community service, and we want to thank Bill. I’ll tell you John and everyone here look at the staff we’ve got here it’s getting ready for the holiday, and you’ve got Laura Marie Wohl (Clarkstown Town Clerk), pointing at her, over here.”
He waved at Wohl. “Say Lauren.” She smiled and waved back. “Bill Weber over there. I mean, we’re all here as a team, so it’s great to give back to the community. It’s a great thing. I want to wish everybody a happy holiday, and a safe one. God bless you.
Hi, we’re here with Laura Marie Wohl, the, Town Clerk for Clarkstown and other assorted positions in the county, and with the Republican Party. I’m doing good, doing great. Tell us about, other than you’re an elected official, why are you here?
John Valentino, Ward One, Clarkstown Councilman elect gave his view on the operation.
“I think this is great. Senator, Weber and his staff, including John, did a great job. This is something that, that no matter where you’re from, no matter what community, I think this is something that is, is needed, and I’m happy to be here assisting. It probably increased a couple of 100 pounds.”
Photo bomber. As evidence of the fun nature of the event, Wohl walked by waving at the camera.
Valentino continued, “I think what that just shows the generosity of the communities in Rockland, and the neighborhoods.”
Have you seen a lot of donations from your ward area.
Yes, there’s a lot from New City, a lot from Clarkstown, but I think it’s pretty much even throughout the county.
Do you have any, any messages for the community about the whole thing and stuff?
“I think that it’s a great, it’s a great thing for the community. It shows the generosity of the community. If you didn’t donate this year, please donate next year. We can use all the coats that we need.”
Don’t get the impression that this was solely an elected official’s event. There were plenty of people from various parts of the district there helping in the sorting of the clothes. Mike Sandak from Chestnut Ridge was one of them. How did he find out about this event?
“My wife (pointing at the lady standing next to him) was on the phone a lot, found out about it, and, of course passed it on to me.
He is an Army veteran who reached the rank of E5 and says that whatever they need he will do, now and in the future. “This is outstanding. It’s very nice of them to collect the coats for the people who don’t have the privileges that a lot of people have, so it’s good to help out. It’s always good to give back. We’re glad to be here.”
He added, “The tonnage they got, it’s incredible. That’s incredible and thank God we can help our people who are blessed to let you know.”
One of the non – profit organizations, Oxford Recovery Homes, had a representative there helping. Her name was Taylor
How did she feel about what she saw there?
“All the jackets and stuff? Yeah, it’s awesome. Tons of donations. We’re really grateful to be able to be here and be able to get them back and being able to help out.
They didn’t have one of Weber’s collection boxes at their facility, but she said they just brought some men to help out. They found out about the sorting because Senator Weber’s, office reached out to them, sent her an email, so they try to come out and help out whenever they can. “We brought a couple of members with us today. Brought some manpower.” She said.
What else does the organization do? “We provide, peer-run self-supporting recovery housing for people that are recovering from substance abuse. So, we are all over New York. We have about, I think, 52 houses across the state of New York and over 4000 across the United States.”
Bob Axelrod Ward from Clarkstown’s Ward 4 was packing the coats into the bags, labeled for males XL and larger.
Pizza was supplied to the volunteers for lunch, and the general attitude of all of the participants was that of joy to be able to help out people in the community who are less fortunate than others. People were moving around so fast with the bags and putting jackets on the tables, you had to keep your eyes open, or you were liable to get run over or have a jacket thrown at you.
One volunteer summed up the whole endeavor… Thumbs up to Senator Weber and his staff.
