Mister Roger's legacy inspires collecting sweaters for needy

More than 3,000 sweaters have been collected in the first year of the "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood Sweater Drive."

The effort to furnish winter clothing to those in need in the Pittsburgh area, where the late Rev. Fred Rogers lived and worked during his entire career, is coordinated by Presbyterian Media Mission and cosponsored by the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh, the United Way and 400 Presbyterian churches of the tri-state area (Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio).

The collection ran through all of November and concluded with a celebration on Dec. 12 at the museum and finished at participating Presbyterian churches on Dec. 16, allowing time for United Way agencies, Presbyterian missions in the area and those churches with neighborhood clothing distribution channels to get sweaters to those in need in time for Christmas.

"There is a possibility of distributing some of the sweaters to places outside the Pittsburgh area," said Gregg Hartung, Presbyterian Media Mission executive director. "We have talked about possibly sending some sweaters to the U.S. Gulf Coast area for those needing warm clothing. Folks there are still recovering from Katrina.

"It has been a remarkable response from Pittsburgh and surrounding areas to this drive of caring for our neighbors," Hartung added. "I'm sure Fred Rogers is smiling down on the neighborhood he cared so much about and feels as though we really are caring for our neighbors the way Jesus taught."

Rogers, who started his legendary "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood" television show in 1968, died in February 2003. He had worked closely with PMM for many years.

The Rogers-inspired sweater drive attracted widespread attention, Hartung said. "Word got out we were partnering with others in the community on this project, and we received a variety of inquiries from other communities wanting to know if they could do it and how to get started," he said. "There were inquiries from across the state and the nation. So who knows how much good has come out of what we did as a cooperative venture here in western Pennsylvania?"

Hartung estimated the value of the gently worn sweaters at $10 each or a total of $30,000. By Dec. 19, more than 2,000 of the sweaters had been distributed.

The overall theme of the sweater drive, "Come in Out of the Cold," was used by many of the participating churches to help bring visibility to a variety of other services and worship programs that Presbyterian churches provide in serving their communities.

This story is written by Jerry L. Van Marter and provided by Worldwide Faith News.