'Little Bit' of help yields big results in coats for St. Louis needy

Every little bit helps.

With that motto, two Catholic soccer moms in the St. Louis area have built a charity that has provided more than 20,000 coats to needy people over the past 10 years.

The Little Bit Foundation supplies coats and outerwear to the homeless and low-income clients of St. Patrick Center in downtown St. Louis and to students at 11 St. Louis inner-city schools.

Elise Tierney, a member of Holy Infant Parish in Ballwin, and Rosemary Hanley of Immacolata Parish in Richmond Heights became friends while watching their grade-school-age sons play soccer. Tierney and Hanley collected coats for charity through drives held by their sons' soccer team.

"I started doing the coat drive in 1996 and Rosemary in 1999," Tierney told the St. Louis Review, the archdiocesan newspaper.

After the soccer team disbanded, Tierney and Hanley continued the coat drive through Holy Infant Parish.

When their sons made the varsity soccer team as freshmen at Christian Brothers College High School, the women continued watching their sons play soccer together and continued collecting coats.

"About five years ago, we were collecting coats for St. Patrick Center. They had told us we were one of their biggest coat contributors," Tierney said. "By our fourth year of collecting we had reached 2,000 coats.

"Then, in 2001, we got a call from an inner-city schoolteacher. She said she had students coming to school without coats and their arms were blue," she added. "We went down. to the school and put coats on kids all day."

Hanley said, "We brought 170 coats to a school of 250 students and gave out every coat. We asked how else we could help."

"The answer," said Tierney, "is the Little Bit Foundation."

"When we brought those coats to that school, it changed everything," Tierney added. "Our mission is really a mission now."

Hanley said, "I went to a school today and gave out coats all day long. It was our third visit there. And they still need more coats. That's the need there is in St. Louis."

Tierney said, "We brought 780 coats to schools last year. We actually had a principal weep. She thought we'd just be bringing five or six coats."

Now a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, the Little Bit Foundation works out of a small basement room at Christian Brothers high school. The school provides the room and helps with labor, thanks to students earning service hours.

Inside the entrance of the all-boys private school is a box for donors to drop off coats and outerwear. A number of local parishes and organizations regularly take up coat collections for the foundation.

"There are some really awesome groups working with us," said Tierney. "People and businesses throughout the community are helping us. These students are our children's peers. This is a need right here in St. Louis."

Both women stressed the need for new or gently used clean coats.

"They have to be clean," said Tierney. "If you wouldn't put it on a member of your family, don't put it on another person."

The Little Bit Foundation collects only outerwear, including mittens, hats, gloves and fleece jackets with zippers.

"We provide the basics to the children--a coat. You can't go to school without a coat," Tierney said.

The two credited their families, their parishes and the school for their strong support, as well as Shop N Save grocery stores and local radio station WIL for a recent donation of 1,700 coats.

"And God," Tierney said. "God is so cool to let us do this. It's his work, not ours."

Dan Buck, CEO of St. Patrick Center, praised the efforts of Tierney and Hanley.

"The work of these two ladies is an example of how a couple of friends can make an impact on thousands," he said.

"Sometimes people don't know what to do or feel as though a problem is too big to tackle, so they do nothing," Buck added. "The Little Bit Foundation exemplifies the idea that if a lot of people do something little, something big will result."

By BARBARA WATKINS

Catholic News Service

St. Louis

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