More than 5,000 coats will be going to domestic violence families in the area this year thanks to a 7th grade student from Byron.
12-year old Victoria Kuzlik along with her father held their 2nd annual "Coats for Hope" drive during the past 2 months. Their goal this year was to raise $20,000 along with 1,500 winter items for the families who are victims of domestic violence.
5 area organizations will receive the winter coats and money. They include Hope of Ogle County, Remedies of Rockford, Voices of Freeport, the YWCA of Sauk Valley, and Safe Passage of DeKalb.
Kuzlik, along with her father, went through a domestic situation in their family. The teen was again surprised with the response from area residents. She said that the families really need winter items and that they can spend their money on other things like food and family needs.
Hope of Ogle County Executive Director Ruth Carter said that "Coats for Hope" has made a big impact with their organization who handles around 500 clients a year. She said that Victoria has made a huge impact on this issue in talkinbg about domestic violence.
Carter also talked about the lack of state money for the present time involving Hope of Ogle County. The domestic violence service funds were not included in the stopgap budget that ends in December. She said funds for Hope of Ogle County ended in October.
If they do not receive the money, Carter said they would have to start cutting services and staff hours. She would like area residents to contact their local lawmaker about this issue and had the funds put into the stopgap budget.
Around 81 hundred dollars has been raised so far for "Coats for Hope". To reach their goal of $20,000, they have extended the fundraising for the money until the end of January.
The 5,000 coats were distributed to the 5 domestic violence organizations on Saturday.
