Winter Closet Foundation
The Winter Closest Foundation is an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with a very simple mission – we deliver new winter coats to kids in need in our communities.
Each year the Foundation works with community partners – including schools, daycare centers, refuge centers, community care nurses, family transitional housing centers, and non-profits – to identify the kids that need coats and to get the coats in their hands before the snow flies.
For the last 30 years, the Foundation has operated fundamentally in the same way – the Foundation receives donations to buy new coats, and those coats are delivered through community partners to the kids. The Foundation is powered exclusively by volunteers from within our law firm community.
We invite you to be a part of the 30 year legacy of the Winter Closet Foundation by making a donation. Whether you’re a first time donor or have been donating since 1992, your support powers the Foundation as a critical resource for children in our law firm’s communities.
Make a gift right now by clicking on the below donation link.
About Us
Our Cause
The invitation to be part of the warmth and joy of the Winter Closet Foundation still stands today as much as it did when the Foundation was founded in 1992 by Leonard E. Lindquist, one of the co-founders of the law firm of Lindquist & Vennum. Leonard was born in 1912 in Minneapolis and after his father died, he rode the rails during the Great Depression to find work in Montana and Washington. While the poverty that Leonard saw and experienced had a profound impact on him, Leonard was even more profoundly impacted by the helping hands and community spirit that he experienced along the way. These experiences inspired in Leonard a dedication to community service that became fundamental to the identity of Lindquist & Vennum as a law firm. So it was only natural that when Leonard saw a need for warm coats among children in the Twin Cities, the law firm rallied to form the Winter Closet Foundation in order to continue its tradition of community service. Since its humble beginnings in 1992 when the Foundation raised $2,100 and donated 75 new coats, the Foundation has operated much the same way with an all-volunteer staff and basically no overhead cost. We are proud to report that the donations received and the number of coats donated has grown significantly since 1992, along with the growth of the firm including through the merger with Ballard Spahr in 2018 and expansion to other cities where our firm has offices.
The Foundation is typically able to purchase coats from our retailers for about $20 per coat. We purchase off-season, in bulk, use discounts and coupons (don’t forget Kohl’s cash!) to get these coats for significant discounts off their retail price, which ranges from $60-$120 or more.
Donate Today
With the temperatures dipping and the substantial snowfall here in the Twin Cities and across the country, there is no better time to support the Foundation than now. We can easily imagine the critical need of kids without a winter coat as they stand at the bus stop, walk to school or visit family. Imagine for example…
- 100 students at the Korean immersion school, Sejong Academy, where 95% of the students are eligible for free/reduced price lunch
- 100 babies, toddlers and school age kids in the childcare program for families in extreme poverty at Baby’s Space
- 50 children who will receive a coat from a visit by one of the public health nurses at the Minnesota Visiting Nurses Association wherever the kids call “home,” even if that’s transitional housing, a refuge center or a homeless shelter
These children are the real life faces popping out of the fleece-lined collars of 250 of the more than 1,200 coats we are delivering in 2022. Your donation will help ensure these children and many others like them in our law firm’s communities experience the warmth and joy of the Winter Closet Foundation this year.
If you are looking to do something that will make an immediate, positive difference in our community, please consider a donation to the Winter Closet Foundation to take advantage of this match. Your donation will support the Foundation as a critical resource for children in our law firm’s communities – Twin Cities, Sioux Falls, Denver, Philadelphia and now Los Angeles. Make a gift by clicking on the below donation link. Donations are tax deductible since the Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit.
Winter Closet Foundation 