Chicago migrants get donations of winter coats for children at 14th District police station

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Many of the migrants arriving in Chicago are young children who are facing the cold winter temperatures without warm clothing. There's now a team effort to get them bundled up.

In a gesture of kindness, coats and other winter clothes were donated to migrants in the 14th District police station, organized by the North Center Chamber of Commerce.

"It's gonna be really important for people to reach deep and think about all the things they might have at home they can possible share to donate," said Maribel Salva of the North Center Chamber of Commerce. "Not only at the 14th district but to other police stations."

Salva reached out to Mondher Smida, owner of Kidzmax clothing store, who in turn donated thousands of articles of clothing to fit kids of all ages, from infants to teenagers.

"They are not yet used to Chicago's cold, windy weather so they are not equipped at all to handle cold temperature that's coming," Smida said.

At the police district, which houses about 100 migrants, officers sorted through the donations and did their best to provide children with appropriate-sized coats.

"For us, it could just be a coat or a sweater. But for these kids it's really gonna mean a lot," Salva said.

Officers with the 14th District said they developed a bond with some of the families here, and hope to throw them a Halloween party in a couple weeks.

In the meantime, they're asking for suitcases to be donated so migrant families can use them to store and transport their clothing and personal items.