Cianna Winkler, daughter of Wayne and Beverly Winkler of Verona, is again this year sponsoring a coat drive to benefit the Human Needs Food Pantry in Montclair.
Last year, people in the local community donated over 400 coats and the pantry distributed them within 48 hours. With weather projections for this winter being similar to last winter, these coats are desperately needed locally and Winkler is looking to top last year’s collection.
The Verona Community Center and First Presbyterian Church in Verona have generously agreed to be drop-off points again this year. Please drop off clean, gently used coats now through November 30, in the large boxes located in the Community Center main entry way and in the large hall at First Presbyterian Church. The church is also collecting non-perishable groceries to drop off weekly at the Human Needs Food Pantry.
Winkler is very involved in community service and has received the Presidential Volunteerism Award at the Gold level in 2013 and 2014. In October, she co-sponsored “The Cardboard City Experience”, a program to raise teen awareness of homelessness in our area and how they can help others. The teens actually sleep in a cardboard box outside overnight and eat only through the kindness of strangers. New Jersey has the 16th largest population of homeless people in the U.S. But what many don’t realize is that the average age of a homeless person is a nine-year-old child, not an adult.
This past August, Winkler was crowned as the first Miss Ramapo Valley’s Outstanding Teen. She will compete in the state competition to represent New Jersey in January. Miss America’s Outstanding Teen, founded 10 years ago, is the little sister to the Miss America Organization and aims to promote scholastic achievement, healthy living, talent, and community service for America’s teens. Winkler is a freshman at Verona High School, where she is also on the cross country and track teams, a member of the chorus, and is a competitive dancer at For Dancer’s Only in Little Falls.
