How You Helped Thousands of Kentucky Kids Buy Coats This Christmas

LEXINGTON, Kentucky (LEX 18) — Christmas is 90 days away, but for so many Kentuckians, giving season has begun.

That includes community activist Devine Carama, who is currently raising funds to buy brand new coats for kids this holiday season.

“We’re expecting more demand than usual this year,” said Carama, founder of the nonprofit Believing in Forever. This will be the organization’s 9th annual outerwear event. Over the past eight years, they have donated more than 15,000 coats.

This year, floods and record inflation in eastern Kentucky have left many families struggling to make ends meet, Calama said. That’s why he hopes to raise enough money to buy 4,000 brand new coats.

He told LEX 18: “We’ve seen a lot of kids who, even something as basic as a coat, can’t be safe when the weather goes down, so we wanted to meet that need.”

Carama is already raising funds and aims to launch the campaign with $5,000 by Saturday, October 1st.

“You can change a child’s life and give a child something entirely new, and that’s what community and Kentucky are all about,” Calama said.

According to Carama, here’s how donations work now:

  • Organize a mini jacket drive in your workspace. Employees are encouraged to introduce new youth coat sizes before collection begins in the first week of December.
  • Small donations can be made electronically via the Cash App to $BelievingInForever, Venmo to BelievingInForever, or Paypal to 859-303-2637
  • Personal or business check made “Trust Forever Company” and mailed to 209 Castlewood Drive, Lexington, KY 40505



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