Our Mission: WTAE-TV’s project Bundle-Up provides all NEW warm, winter outerwear – including coats, hats, gloves, and boots – for children and senior citizens from low income households throughout Western Pennsylvania. This joint program is implemented by The Salvation Army Western PA Division and WTAE Channel 4. Your support keeps local children and seniors warm.
The Need: Western Pennsylvania winters can have devastating effects on working low income households. Purchasing essential winter outerwear can present a challenge for families with growing children and seniors living on a fixed income, particularly when increases in heating costs become a priority. As a result, many kids and seniors go without the essential warm winter gear that is needed.
Through this program, children up to 18 years old are provided up to $75 for new winter outerwear items, while seniors aged 62 years and older typically receive $100 for the purchase of much-needed apparel to keep warm during the cold winter months. WTAE-TV’s project Bundle-Up aids an individual once every other year in order to reach more people in need each season. The program provides funding to nearly 5,000 individuals annually; however, many must be turned away and added to a waiting list until more funds become available.
Since 1986, WTAE-TV’s project Bundle-Up has raised more than $17.5 million and provided new winter outerwear for nearly 310,000 individuals.
Doing so much more than keeping kids and seniors warm…
- By providing NEW winter outerwear for disadvantaged children and seniors, who may have only previously worn secondhand coats, or no coats at all, our program also helps to improve their health and self-esteem.
- Taking kids and seniors shopping with caring volunteers also bundles them up with love, giving them the sense of being cared for that comes from someone spending time with them, talking with them, and listening to them.
Program History
WTAE-TV’s project Bundle-Up was created in 1986 by the late former Vice-President and General Manager Fred Barber, the late Chief Meteorologist Joe DeNardo, and Salvation Army Lieutenant Colonel Robert A. Watson. The program is a joint venture of WTAE-TV and The Salvation Army of Western Pennsylvania.
Initiated in 1986, WTAE-TV’s project Bundle-Up is a joint community service effort of The Salvation Army and WTAE-TV. This program provides new winter coats, hats, scarves, gloves and boots for children and senior citizens from low income households throughout Western Pennsylvania.
WTAE-TV’s project Bundle-Up serves disadvantaged children ranging from infants to 18 years old and senior citizens 62+ years old. Eligibility is based on financial need. We go beyond meeting basic needs. Through shopping with an adult mentor who takes the time to listen, and having something besides a hand-me-down coat to wear to school, kids’ self-esteem grows by leaps and bounds, giving them the confidence to excel in the classroom.