With the holiday season in full swing, the Walpole High School Green Team came together to run a coat drive to collect new and used coats for those in need this winter.

“Overall, the goal for this project is to give back to others who are less unfortunate and need coats for the winter,” junior team organizer Matt Ferraro said. “So far, people have donated a lot of usable coats that we are able to donate.”

The idea for the Green Team’s coat drive came to the attention of team advisor Karen Baumgartner, from the staff at Walpole High. She wanted to organize an activity to go along with each letter in Walpole Highs new acronym, PRIDE, which stands for positivity, respect, integrity, drive and empathy.

“D stands for Drive so, [Baumgartner] and the students of the Green Team wanted to be one of the founding teams to embody the PRIDE initiative in its early years,” Ferraro said. “I decided to become the team organizer of this project because I strongly believe that everyone should give back to their community.”

The coat drive was originally set to take place from Dec. 6-20, but the Green Team decided that they would extend the coat drive until after the winter break to allow for students who get new coats during the holiday to donate their used ones.

“We believe the holidays are a time where nobody should have to worry about staying warm,” junior member Nathan Shnaider said. “We are making an effort to change that with the coat drive.”

The Green Team hopes to continue to collect coats for those in need this holiday season and to boost the drive in Walpole High students.

“Our more specific goals include collecting as many coats as possible,” Ferraro said. “We want to create a school environment for giving back to your community through community service.”

Along with the team’s drive this winter, they are also beginning to collaborate with a town volunteer group entitled “Keep Walpole Beautiful.”

“The WHS Green Team has many conservation-minded goals that we are planning for in the future,” Ferraro said. “We always want to continue to give back to our community as much as we can, especially through environmentally friendly projects.”

In the future, the Green Team plans to spread their message throughout the school with many more events, aimed to inspire Walpole students to be environmentally conscious.

“By holding activities in the town and inside the school, we are able to remind everyone to become more environmentally friendly,” Ferraro said. “Student involvement with the high school will continue to further spread our message.”