KENMORE, NY (WKBW) — They are big rivals on the field, but for one day, two very competitive schools teamed up on a special project.
St. Joseph’s Collegiate Institute and Canisius High School wrapped up a week-long coat collection effort for the CoatsforKids drive sponsored by Colvin Cleaners.
Students from both schools delivered a huge pile of coats Friday.
It was Canisius vs. St Joe’s inside Colvin Cleaners in Kenmore with the young men dressed in suits and ties joining forces for the collection effort.
They are big sports rivals, but in the season of giving — they are on one team today. @CanisiusHS @SJCI are working together collecting for @ColvinCleaners #Coats4Kids. Students from both high schools working on piles of coats they collected. @WKBW pic.twitter.com/hCZWokEUfH
— Eileen Buckley (@eileenwkbw) December 2, 2022
Normally these two schools would be battling it out on the football field, but they're coming together today for our community,
“Go Joe’s!,” shouted St. Joe’s students. “Go Canisius!”, Canisius students shouted back.
“But I think it's really special we can set the rivalry aside and come together to help serve those people in our community,” remarked Francesco Borgese senior, St. Joe’s.
“You know on the field and on the court — rivalry is usually fun — love to talk some smack and all that — but when you get to bring it to something like this, where you can serve the common good, it's awesome,” explained Matthew Marusza, senior, Canisius High School.
St. Joe's and Canisius are all boys, private, Catholic schools with similar missions — schools promoting education through service.
“We collected over a thousand coats — over a thousand people are going to be warmer this winter and it means a lot to us,” noted Borgese.
“I've been bringing in coats every day. I've been telling my friends too and it's created a cool event that's happening during this time of the year,” Marusza remarked.
“They did an incredible job — brought an absolute truckload of coats that they collected in one week,” described Paul Billoni, owner, Colvin Cleaners.
Paul and Cyndee Billoni, owners of Colvin Cleaners, have been collecting CoatsfourKids for many years and say there is a tremendous need this year.
“And it couldn't come at a better time because as fast as these coats are coming in they're going out,” noted Cyndee Billoni. “We have more requests than ever from different organizations that we have a lot of refugee and outreach centers, churches, and schools — all asking for coats."
The Billonis tell me it's “heartbreaking” to see children without coats. They will work to clean and reset the coats to distribute to more than 30 organizations.
They were so impressed with how well these young men came together to support their donation drive.
"They obviously believe in giving back and it just really puts a smile on your face,” reflected Paul Billoni.
“At the end of the day, we're all people, we're all Christians, we're all people of God, and — we are just as much brothers of Joe's as we are our own students,” Marusza said.
“It's a mutual respect that we know we're coming together for something greater," Borgese commented.
If you would like to donate, the Billoni’s say a big need this year in their collection for coats for infants and children, sizes ten to 12 as well as men and women 1X, 2X, and 4X.
The real winner in this coat collection are those in need.
