Courtesy photo Tregan Lippens, BPA vice president, and Griffin Johnson, BPA club president, pose during the disbursement of clothing donations to the Salvation Army.

ESCANABA — The Bay College and LSSU Regional Chapter of Business Professionals of America (BPA) Annual Warm Coats for Warm Hearts campaign collected coats for those in need in Delta County. The student driven campaign ran from Monday, December 4 to Monday, December 18. With the community’s outpouring of support, a total of 214 items were collected during the campaign. Collection boxes were placed at Elmer’s County Market, Pat’s Foods IGA, Mobil (Gladstone), Integra First Federal Credit Union (Powers), and Bay College.

“Every year, the community comes together to give, and it warms my heart to see. We would like to thank the businesses who housed our donation boxes, and the community who generously donated over 200 items to those in need,” said Tregan Lippens, a Bay College student pursuing a bachelors in communications, and a BPA member. “In BPA, we learn to give our time, talents, and treasures to do good for our community, and it is nice to see our community do the same.”

On December 18, BPA students came together to sort every donation. On December 20, coats and other winter gear were distributed to the Salvation Army and Tri-County Safe Harbor. Low-income families at Sand Hill Townhouses received donations on January 10.

“BPA teaches us about self-improvement, and this event has a lot to show us about leadership, teamwork, and community service,” said Lippens. “We grew from this campaign, but it was because of the community that we were able to achieve our goal of bringing warmth to the people and hearts of those in need.”