NORWICH – The Norwich City School District is working closely with The Place as part of an effort to provide students with winter-appropriate pants and shirt this holiday season.

The school district is accepting clothing donations at Gibson, Perry Browne and the Middle School and High School. Event Coordinator and School Social Worker Kelly Colosi said the community has been generous in making donations in the past and she hopes to be able to serve more students this year. Though all donations are appreciated, said Colosi, the objective is to collect clothing that will benefit students throughout the winter.

As each city school reaches out to collect clothing from community members, The Place is working with area businesses to gather monetary donations. Participating businesses have set up Christmas trees and decorated them with snowflakes that sponsor students in need of clothing. In addition to donating directly to The Place, community members can also contribute by purchasing a snowflake for $30 – money that is used by The Place to buy clothing.

So far, a total of $6,000 has also been raised between the RC Smith Foundation, the Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Wal-Mart, Unison and the United Way. Trees have been set up at Wal-Mart, Kerry Bio-Science, Manpower and the Family YMCA but Courtney Crisler, executive director at The Place, said she will be working with local business throughout the week to have more in place.