Best Cleaners, with a location in Old Lyme, recently completed its 12th annual Coats for Connecticut drive, collecting and cleaning more than 11,000 donated jackets to give to families in need.

The drive, which ran through November and December, cleaned the received jackets weekly and stored them in a storefront donated by the Meriden Mall and storage containers donated by Two Men and a Truck. Volunteers from the Salvation Army then sorted for distribution.

“Given the challenges of operating during the pandemic, our decision to move forward with this year’s campaign was not made lightly. But we knew the need would be greater than ever before, and we knew we could count on our customers, our staff and campaign partners to make it happen,” Shawn McCann, owner and president of Best Cleaners, said in a release. “We are truly grateful for all those who stepped up and donated coats. Many thanks also go to the Salvation Army team for securing one central drop spot at the Meriden Mall for our weekly coat deliveries so we didn’t have to expose our staff and volunteers to multiple locations.”

For more information, visit bestcleaners.com.

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