If you’ve got a coat collecting dust in your closet, our neighborhood bars have a deal for you: donate it to help LGBTQ+ youth facing homelessness, and walk away with a free beer.
If you’ve got a coat collecting dust in your closet, our neighborhood bars have a deal for you: donate it to help LGBTQ+ youth facing homelessness, and walk away with a free beer.
From December 15 through January 10, eight Bushwick bars are participating in a Winter Coat Drive benefiting the Ali Forney Center, the nation’s largest organization dedicated to protecting LGBTQ+ young people from homelessness. Drop off a new or gently used coat at any participating location during regular hours, and Lagunitas Brewing Company will thank you with a cold one on the house.
The drive was organized by Heather Rush, who said she’s “seen firsthand how powerful our community can be when it comes together.” For Rush, the coat drive is “a small but meaningful way to support young people in need while celebrating Bushwick’s spirit of community and connection.”
All coats collected will go directly to the Ali Forney Center, which provides housing, healthcare, and essential services to LGBTQ+ youth throughout New York City. The organization, named after Ali Forney, a homeless gender-nonconforming teen who was murdered in Harlem in 1997, has been serving vulnerable young people since 2002.
The participating bars span the neighborhood, making it easy to contribute no matter which corner of Bushwick you call home:
- Pine Box Rock Shop, 12 Grattan Street, Brooklyn, NY 11206
- Milo’s Yard, 564 Seneca Avenue, Ridgewood, NY 11385
- 101 Wilson, 101 Wilson Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11237
- Little Beaver, 24 Saint Nicholas Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11237
- Merv’s, 266 Irving Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11237
- Filthy Diamond, 679 Knickerbocker Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11221
- Cobra Club, 6 Wyckoff Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11237
- Bonus Room, 991 Wyckoff Avenue, Ridgewood, NY 11385
Donations are accepted daily during each venue’s regular hours. For more information or to get involved, contact Heather at [email protected] or Reid at [email protected].
To learn more about the Ali Forney Center’s work, visit aliforneycenter.org.
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