T-R PHOTO BY LANA BRADSTREAM Lennox employee Sara Lopez helps Woodbury Elementary first grade student Aaron Flores try on a winter coat. All of the students in the building received a new coat during the Operation Warm event yesterday.

Woodbury Elementary students will stay warmer this winter. Lennox and the LII Lennox Foundation partnered with Operation Warm to bring more than 400 coats to the students yesterday.

Winter coats of various sizes and colors were placed on tables and in boxes in organized sets. During the morning hours, all of the students were taken to the gymnasium to pick out their coats with the help of Lennox volunteers.

Jenner Bate, the Marshalltown Lennox human resources leader, said the event went very well and is part of the Lennox Days of Good project.

“This is a great opportunity to go out and spend time in the community, to give back,” he said.

Lennox also hosted Days of Good events at the Animal Rescue League of Marshalltown, Iowa River Hospice and at the Iowa Veterans Home.

“We plan a lot of community events,” Bate said. “Today we’re doing Operation Warm, and this is the second year we are giving coats to Marshalltown Community School District students.”

In 2023 Lennox delivered coats to Rogers Elementary students. Bate said Woodbury was chosen based on the need and there are no plans to bring winter coats to any of the other school buildings this year.

“Every kid at Woodbury will get a new coat, whether they are attending [school today] or not,” he said. “It’s exciting to bring them brand new coats, not hand-me-downs.”

One of the Lennox volunteers, John Vosveld, said giving the coats to the children was awesome.

“I’d like to see more of this happen,” he said.

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Contact Lana Bradstream at 641-753-6611 ext. 210

or lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.