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Updated: March 15, 2013 11:35AM
Coats for Vets a success
The “Coats for Vets” collection gathered more than 2,300 winter coats and jackets, along with dozens of gloves, scarves and other winter apparel for local veterans. The effort was spearheaded by Libertyville Rotary Sunrise in cooperation with Zengeler Cleaners’ two Libertyville stores.
In recognition of their longstanding support for “Coats for Vets,” the Zengeler family was presented with the Seven Seals Award, the highest civilian honor awarded by Veterans’ organizations. The award was presented to Robert Zengeler, Sr., Tom Zengeler who is president of Zengeler Cleaners, and Tom’s son Andrew at the January meeting of Libertyville Rotary Sunrise at Lambs Farm in Libertyville.
To make the award even more special, the group had Allen Lynch bestow it. Lynch earned a Congressional Medal of Honor – the military’s highest honor.
While many of us take the basics of life for granted, food, shelter and clothing are often quite difficult to come by for out of work veterans, Rotary organizers said. This is especially true for seasonal items, such as winter coats and jackets which is why Libertyville Rotary Sunrise started this collection drive several years ago.
Zengeler Cleaners’ two Libertyville stores served as drop-off locations for the donations. After the items were collected, Zengeler Cleaners inspected, repaired as needed and cleaned every donated item.
Due to the tremendous support for the collection drive, half of the items were delivered in time for Veterans Day on Nov. 11 and the remainder delivered at a later date. ~.
