County Employee Clothes Drive Expands in Second Year with Books, Toys, Sponsorships

SANTA CLARA COUNTY, Calif. – A year after a random run-in with a downtrodden man in front of the County Administration Building spurred an employee to start a Holiday Coat Drive, the effort has expanded to include toys, books, and family sponsorships – and is now on track to eclipse last year’s impressive effort. 

Diane Curiel, the receptionist at the County Executive’s Office who started the drive last year, said she’s thrilled and encouraged by the growth rate of the mound of donations piled in front of her workspace.

The drive collected 1,142 items last year. This year it passed that mark on Dec. 20 – just a month after it started – with six weeks to go before it ends on January 31. 

“I’m just overwhelmed by the generosity, it’s so lovely to see,” Curiel said. “And I can see how good people feel when they come in to drop off items, too! It’s very heartening.”

Items are distributed by the Downtown Streets Team and – new for this year – the Pitstop Outreach nonprofit that serves the unhoused population of Gilroy and South County. 

The Holiday Coat Drive was sparked by a chance encounter on a cold and rainy day last January, when Curiel was walking up Hedding Street to the office. She saw a man casually throw a head-sized wad of crumpled paper to the ground and reacted to the flagrant act, preparing to advise the man of nearby refuse bins where he could kindly deposit his trash.

“I wasn’t OK with him littering right in front of our building,” Curiel said. 

But then she saw that the man was barefoot and wearing just thin pants and a button-up shirt, nothing to protect him from the bone-chilling wind and rain.  

“I felt horrible,” she said. “It’s freezing, and I’m all bundled up. I came upstairs and said, ‘We need to do something, now.’”

The next day the collection began, with bins in the lobby, posters on the walls, and email blasts out to her County colleagues. Donations flooded in. She’s seeing the same this year, but amplified, with materials coming in from multiple County departments including the Charcot, Component and Asbury campuses, Procurement, and the Sheriff’s Office. 

Out in the field, Downtown Streets Team San José Project Manager José Villarreal said the impact is tremendous and tangible. 

“The one thing I love is seeing the faces of folks,” Villarreal said. “I’ll never forget last year when we went out during a storm, it was by the Guadalupe River area and there were a few individuals that were just shirtless. When we gave them their coats, when we gave them their jackets, it was a godsend for them.”

Curiel said she believes the inspiration was indeed divine.

“I feel I was put here for a reason,” she said. “I felt like God was talking to me, and said ‘You asked if you could be a blessing to somebody, so listen: Here’s your opportunity, it’s right in front of you.’”