CLENDENIN, W.Va. — The students at Clendenin Elementary School are being ensured they will stay warm this winter as a shipment of over 300 new coats gets delivered to them.
The Appalachian-based natural gas production company, Diversified Energy came together with Operation Warm Wednesday morning for the distribution of the 332 new winter coats to Clendenin Elementary students.
A national nonprofit, Operation Warm’s mission is to provide brand-new winter coats and shoes to children in need. 
Diversified Energy Manager of Community Relations Hannah Hutson said it’s their third year of partnering with this nonprofit for the initiative of making sure kids be better equipped for the winter months ahead, as it’s part of their commitment to ease financial strain on local families.
And she said both the kids and the Diversified team loves this event.
“To see the smiles that not only the kids leave with on their faces, but our employees, it’s incredible,” Hutson said. “It’s truly just something you have to see for yourself to really understand the magnitude of it.”
Through this effort, Hutson said their aim is to reach thousands of students.
She said they conduct similar events in each state they operate in, but this West Virginia coat drive is their biggest yet this year.
Hutson said they feel their responsibility to their customers extends beyond the production of energy, but it should better their lives in multiple ways.
“If we’re going to take really good care of our wells and whatever else we’re given ownership of, we’re going to take care of our communities, and we really want our communities, the children to know that we really care and we’re going to help them whenever we can,” said Hutson.
Operation Warm has been bringing winter coats to underserved children for the past 25 years, and has distributed to over 6 million kids.
Lasanna Brew with Operation Warm said the nonprofit not only distributes the coats and shoes, however, but they also manufacture them themselves.
Brew said there’s nothing better than witnessing just how much this helps the kids they serve.
“Honestly, it’s beautiful, it’s hard to even put words to it, but just impact, just to see the impact, it’s just beautiful,” he said.
Brew said the initiative provides more than just a coat.
“Providing warmth, confidence and hope, it’s just priceless,” said Brew. “It’s so many kids, you think it’s just a coat, but then when you see the smile that you put on their face, there’s nothing better, it’s priceless.”
Mountaineer Food Bank was also distributing food to the children simultaneously as the coat drive was underway.
They were giving West Virginia-grown apples, which were grown up around the Martinsburg area, as well as fresh popcorn grown by a local farmer in Monroe County.
Mountaineer Food Bank Kids Program Coordinator Tabitha Mays said their mission of visiting local schools is not only to encourage healthier eating, but eating from local producers. She said it’s always a delight to tell the kids where the food is coming from.
“Especially when you tell them something was grown here in West Virginia, they may have never thought you could actually grow in West Virginia something like popcorn, popcorns definitely not one you hear talked about a lot, and the West Virginia apples and all of the different types of apples that there are and that can be grown here in West Virginia, so listening to the kids and telling the kids this, they get super excited,” said Mays.