[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2008, Book II)]
[December 22, 2008]
[Pages 1506-1507]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks During a Visit With Volunteers of the One Warm Coat Service 
Project
December 22, 2008

    The President. Listen, Laura and I are here 
with the Mayor and other volunteers who are 
just trying to make a difference in one person's life. And today we're 
honoring a project called One Warm Coat. And it's an effort--a 
nationwide effort to convince our fellow citizens to contribute a used, 
but not overly used, coat to help a soul who may need to be warm this 
winter.
    I think there's 2,000 chapters nationwide. The program was started 
by this lady right here--who is the ultimate 
social entrepreneur--and until 1992, this was operated out of San 
Francisco. And today it's--as I said, there's 2,000 coat drives. If you 
want to help, you can get on the web page and call onewarmcoat.org--call 
it up on your computer.
    A couple of examples, or a couple of reasons why we've come--and one 
such example is the great example of how a single citizen, and eventually a group of citizens, can make a 
difference, positive difference; that our communities are enriched by 
programs such as these.
    We're also here, by the way, at the headquarters for Pathway to 
Housing, which is a program of--all aimed at helping the homeless find a 
place to live.
    And I want to thank, Mr. Mayor, your 
leadership--and all of you all for being involved in this vital program.
    If you want to serve your Nation, you can find a lot of ways to 
serve. And I hope you do. I hope you realize the great blessings that 
come when you put your heart and soul into making somebody else's life 
better.
    And so, Mr. Mayor, Laura and I wish you and the citizens of this fine city a 
happy holidays, and thank you for joining us today.
    Mayor Adrian M. Fenty of Washington, DC. 
Thank you. Thank you for the donations from your White House staff and 
yourself personally.
    The President. A hundred and fifty coats, I'm so pleased that those 
good souls who Laura and I work with agreed to 
contribute.
    Anyway, thank you all.
    The First Lady. Happy holidays. Thank you.
    The President. All get a team picture, come on. Come on, Laura--soldiers in the army of compassion.

Note: The President spoke at 11:13 a.m. at Pathways to Housing DC. In 
his remarks, he

[[Page 1507]]

referred to Lois Pavlow, founder, and Sherri L. Wood, national 
coordinator, One Warm Coat. A portion of these remarks could not be 
verified because the tape was incomplete.