South Beach firefighters and their community partners were able to purchase more than 100 new winter coats for kids in the South Beach area during their annual coat drive, Operation Warm.

Daryl Brown, secretary of South Beach Professional Firefighters Local 3689, said the union teamed up with the South Beach Firefighters Community Support Foundation and the North Cove Fire Association to purchase and distribute the coats.

“Since 1998, Operation Warm has been providing coats to children in need, with over 3 million brand new coats given,” said Brown. “By working with manufacturers, Operation Warm receives winter coats at a heavily discounted rate. With this deep discount our firefighters and community partners were able to purchase more than 100 coats for local children.”

The coats were distributed throughout the South Beach community, most of them to Ocosta School District students, the rest to the South Beach Christian Centers preschool program, said Brown.