Dexter, Missouri -  Saint Francis Healthcare System is asking residents to help warm those around us in need. This September, the community can donate new or gently-used coats for kids through Saint Francis to directly benefit The Salvation Army in Cape Girardeau and other charitable organizations throughout the region.

The donated coats will provide a tremendous benefit to area kids in the colder months just around the corner. Any help that the community can provide for this cause will be extremely beneficial. The Salvation Army traditionally hosts coat drives in November and Saint Francis’ collection will go toward that drive.
 
“The Salvation Army does so much good in communities worldwide,” says Debbie Gibson, manager of Saint Francis’ Volunteer Services and Pastoral Care. “We are honored to do our part to help, and invite everyone in and around Cape Girardeau to do the same!”

Eight donation barrels are located on the Medical Center campus: outside the Chapel of Saint Francis, in Pastoral Care and at Entrances 1, 2, 4, 6, 7 and 8. Donation barrels are also at various Saint Francis outreach clinics: Charleston Family Care, Farmington Physician Associates, Jackson Family Care, Kneibert Clinic in Poplar Bluff, Piedmont Physician Associates in Piedmont, Physicians Park Primary Care, Poplar Bluff Neurology Specialists, Sikeston Radiation Oncology and the Saint Francis Health Center in Dexter. Coats collected outside Cape Girardeau will go to local charities in the respective communities.

For more information about coat donation, please call 573-331-3996.

Saint Francis Medical Center is a 307-bed facility serving more than 713,000 people throughout Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee and Arkansas. Guided by its mission to provide a ministry of healing and wellness inspired by its Christian philosophy and values, the Medical Center has become a progressive, innovative regional tertiary care referral center. Saint Francis’ major service lines, which have received national recognition, include the Neurosciences Institute; Orthopedic Institute; Family BirthPlace, featuring the region’s first Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit; Heart Hospital; Emergency and Level III Trauma Center; Cancer Institute; and Fitness Plus.