Warm the Children Supplies Winter Wear to Needy Kids

For more than 20 years, a charity begun by the former publisher of the city's daily newspaper has been dressing needy children living in Middlesex County in warm winter clothing with the help of community donations and volunteers.

This year, Warm The Children, established in this city in 1992 by Middletown Press publisher Mack Stewart and now organized by the Middletown Kiwanis Club in partnership with The Middletown Press, is in need of donations more than ever. 

The charity, which Stewart began in the late 1980s, provides new basic and warm winter clothing and footwear for needy children, ages birth through age 15, in the greater Middletown area.

In 2002, the Kiwanis Foundation became the sponsor of the Warm The Children program for the Middletown area.

Families are referred by sources including public elementary and middle schools in Middletown, Portland, Cromwell, East Hampton and Regional School District 13 Durham-Middlefield, CRT’s Head Start, Middletown Adult Education’s Even Start, as well as the Middlesex Hospital’s Family Advocacy programs and the Salvation Army. 

Volunteer shoppers contact their assigned family and meet the parent at Walmart in Cromwell, where together they shop for new clothing (up to $80 per child, under age 2 up to $40). 

To donate, make a check or money order out to: Warm The Children and send it to: Warm The Children, Liberty Bank, attentions Cindi Whitehouse, 315 Main Street, Middletown, CT 06457.

Others can donate using a PayPal account or by credit card by visiting the Middletown Kiwanis / Warm the Children website.

For more information about Warm the Children, see the Middletown Press stories here, here and here.