As I watched my Facebook feed explode with outrage over today's school closing, one thing was crystal clear: a major concern involves the fact that many kids lack winter gear suitable for walking to school or waiting at bus stops in the frigid weather. So let's do something about that, shall we? Here are 8 ways to donate winter gear to kids in need, in Massachusetts and beyond. If you're home with your kids, take 15 minutes to gather items for donation!

And if your kids need winter gear, check out pickup details at the linked sites below. I'm so grateful to these organizations for the work they do to help so many.

1. Room to Grow. Probably one of the most well know agencies in the Boston area, the mission of Room to Grow is to build a strong foundation for babies in poverty. Focusing on children aged newborn through three years old, donations of all gently used or new clothing and baby gear is accepted at their main location in Boston, as well as other various donation locations. Tax receipts are provided.

2. Cradles to Crayon. Cradles to Crayons provides children from birth through age 12 living in homeless or low-income situations with essential items such coats, clothing, shoes, toys, books, and school supplies. All clothing types, including winter gear, are accepted and appreciated. The main donation location is in Brighton but there are many others around the state and the online tax receipt makes it easy to claim the donation come tax time.

3. Catie’s Closet. Catie’s Closet provides a unique solution to kids in need by setting up “stores/walk in closets” right in schools so children in pre-K through grade 12 have immediate access to what they need.  Catie’s Closet's drop off location in Dracut is open the first and third Saturdays of each month from 9am – 12pm. In addition to clothing and winter gear, they accept toiletry items. A most wanted items list is listed on their website.

4. Second Chances. With several drop off locations in Somerville, Cambridge and Watertown, Second Chances makes donating gently used clothing and winter gear really easy; as long as it is wearable, they’ll take it. The openings of their donation bins are only 2 x 2 so make sure to place your clothing, shoes, and accessories in a small or medium-sized plastic garbage bag (no hangers and no boxes). Second Chances does not provide tax receipts for items donated.

5. Boston Medical Center Grow Clinic. The Grow Clinic at Boston Medical Center in Boston depends on donations in order to assist their clients. Food, supplements, toys, and clothing for children ages 3 – 8 years old is highly needed and appreciated. Call a few days before your anticipated drop off, or if you’d like a tour of the location, a few weeks before.

6. Burlington Coat Factory. Until January 19, families can donate coats for men, women, or children at most Burlington Coat Factory locations via BCF's Warm Coats & Warm Hearts Drive. Drop off boxes are found at each location and once your coats are dropped off a greater will present you with a 10% off store coupon. Coats do not need to be dry cleaned beforehand but should be in good condition.

7. Gifts to Give. Gifts to Give is housed in a former golf ball factory and focuses its giving primarily to the south coast of MA. They accept most gently used clothing and toy items for newborns through school aged children, though there are some things they don’t take, so be sure to check this list before heading to their main Acushnet drop off location or any of their other locations.

8. One Warm Coat. One Warm Coat is an aggregate site that lists donation locations by state (just pop in your zip code to find donation locations). While it may take a bit more digging, you’ll surely find a coat donation location somewhere close to you.

UPDATED 1/8/15 TO ADD #9. There are likely options right in your neighborhood! Check with schools in your town about donation/pickup options. Also, sometimes police/fire stations or other community organizations will host donation drives.

Image credit: Christine Koh

I have long been a fan of Seventh Generation (even more so after learning that they – unlike most household and personal care companies – disclose all of the ingredients in their products) and right now they’re rocking a Million Baby Crawl grassroots educational campaign about keeping homes and the environment toxin-free. The Crawl To Action campaign comes to Boston (or more accurately, the Burlington Mall) tomorrow, November 18 (10am-2pm), during which kids can enjoy the play area and live entertainment while grownups learn about safe products and pick up Seventh Generation samples.

If you have questions about influenza/H1N1, the Boston Public Library and the Boston Public Health Commission are hosting a series of information sessions across the city, starting today. Topics will include flu prevention, care, myths and facts, and information on free flu clinics. All sessions are free and open to the public; no registration required.

Image credit: Boston Public Health Commission
UPDATE (11/29/09): The two flu information sessions scheduled for Thursday, December 3 at the East Boston and Codman Square (Dorchester) branch libraries have been canceled.

It’s the season of giving and I hope you will participate in the Big Boston Warm-up. This coat campaign is hinged to an art installation at Boylston Plaza at Prudential Center. The installation comprises 768 figures, each representing 10 of Boston’s homeless men, women, and children. Simply donate a gently used coat to a local Lands’ Ends at Sears (you’ll receive 20% off a new Lands’ End coat) and a red heart will be added to each installation figure for every 10 coats donated. Also, as part of the campaign, tomorrow, November 7 (10:30am-12pm; 1-2:30pm), at the Burlington Mall Lands’ End/Sears, families can enjoy a meet and greet, reading, and book signing with Carol McCloud, author of Have You Filled a Bucket Today: A Guide to Daily Happiness for Kids. The concept of “bucket filling” is all about encouraging positive acts, such as helping those less fortunate.
The Big Boston Warm-up runs now through November 30. Collected coats will be distributed via the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless.

Finding age appropriate ways to have tough conversations with kids can be challenging, and if you need help addressing the topic of cancer with your child, WGBH is offering a special event this Sunday, October 18 (2 – 3:30pm). When A Child Knows Someone With Cancer will include a screening of The Great MacGrady (a new Arthur special that addresses cancer and survivorship), as well as the opportunity to interface with a panel of pediatric health and education experts on resources and strategies for supporting kids as they cope with the cancer diagnosis of a loved one. This event is free; RSVP is required.

At WGBH Studios, One Guest Street, Brighton; 617-300-5400

If you’re ready to purge, replace, or upgrade your stroller to accommodate more than one kiddo, visit Magic Beans this Thursday (July 24) between 10am to 8pm for The Great Stroller Exchange. Simply bring in your gently used stroller – which will be donated to a family in need via Cradles to Crayons – and you’ll receive 10% off a new stroller from Magic Beans.

The event is running at all three Magic Beans locations (Brookline, Hingham, Wellesley) and drop off and purchase must occur on the 24th. Click here for further details about the event, including stroller condition requirements.

Today, Sharon offers a lead for a local bereavement support organization for children, teens, and their families:

“During the past couple of months, I’ve been reminded repeatedly about how kids grow and learn about the world around them. And in particular, how challenging it can be to figure out how to communicate with kids about difficult situations, such as the loss of a loved one.

Adults have many ways - both healthy and unhealthy - of coping with loss. Without help processing their feelings, children may express grief through behaviors such as acting out, anger, isolation, or aggression. Through a co-worker, I recently learned about The Children’s Room, a local center that offers bereavement support for children, teens, and their families. I was struck by my co-worker’s description of helping kids express their feelings through art, music, and sports, as well as the fact that The Children’s Room fosters support and solidarity through group settings, allowing kids to interact around these issues with kids their own age.

Admittedly, when I first heard that one of my nieces (who lives in another state) was attending a similar bereavement program to cope with the losses of her twin sister and grandfather, I initially cringed at the idea. But I quickly realized that this reaction was rooted in the taboo associated with being open about discussing difficult, painful issues with children. But these discussions – and finding ways to work through grief – are particularly important, given how emotionally confusing times like these can be for children.

The Children's Room operates out of Arlington and Framingham and serves kids between the ages of 3 to 18. The service is free, and relies on donations from families and foundations.”

Welcome to the 2nd installment of Boston Mamas Rock! – where we’re giving a voice to fabulous local mamas, whether they be entrepreneurs, avid volunteers, stay at home moms, moms who have closet talents (e.g., community theatre, juggling, what have you…), authors, media professionals, politicians, professors, etc. Read on for today’s interview with Janie Katz-Christy, the Director of Green Streets Initiative. Then go ahead and nominate yourself or a friend!

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Janie Katz-Christy, Director, Green Streets Initiative

Christine: Tell us a little bit about yourself Janie. Have you always been a green advocate? Did you have an alternate path before launching Green Streets Initiative? Or is this a side venture in addition to parenting and other pursuits?

Janie: Thanks for asking, and encouraging me to think about this. I am an architect and have always been drawn both to ways of living lightly on the land and to having vibrant and livable cities and towns. As an architect, I studied, worked with, and taught about "passive solar" design. I have also worked as a gardener. I see Green Streets' effort as design, too, but on a much larger and more ephemeral level than architects typically deal with. And I think transportation is such a great area to address, because it's so easy to change and is such a win/win proposition. In terms of money, there's no cost, really, just savings.

I've been interested in bicycling since I was a teenager, after my mother (a New Jersey mama!) encouraged me to go on a six-week bike trip throughout New England when I was 13. I then did the same kind of hostelling trip in France and Switzerland at 15, and loved traveling by bike. In college in Ann Arbor, MI, it was a convenient and fun way to get around. Luckily, when I met my husband, Sam Christy, we discovered that we both loved biking as a form of everyday transportation as well as travel. When we had our second child, we had the tricycle pictured below built. I had found it frustrating that I was driving to take them to their exercise classes! The trike has been through many incarnations, from carrying a newborn in a click-in baby seat to having each of the kids on the trailer bike on back, to now being used for gardening. We've had it now for about 8 years, and it’s now our “car” since we gave up our one car last fall. And I should say that although I felt a bit deprived at first – ironically I was the holdout in our family – it’s been very liberating to be car-free.

Christine: Tell me more about the Walk/Ride Days on the last Friday of every month. What does "go, and wear, green," mean exactly? Do you have to wear the Walk/Ride shirt to participate?

Janie: The idea behind Walk/Ride Days is to have a citywide celebration that encourages people to use alternative transportation. We find that people feel more comfortable with trying new ways of transportation when it is part of a group effort and when it seems fun. Once they experience a new, more active way to get around, they often do so many times throughout the month. When we say "go green" and "wear green" it is simply means traveling without using a car (even just reducing use of cars by carpooling or walking a little!) and wearing something green. The "something green" does not have to be a Green Streets t-shirt, it can be anything! Just as long as it's green.

Green Streets started as a way to make the streets safer for cyclists, let others experience the fun of getting around by bike and other green means, build community, and reduce pollution.

Christine: I think it's marvelous that the Cambridge initiative has expanded to Somerville and Medford, and I see that you are spreading into Boston and Portland, Maine. Is there currently formal activity underway for expansion to other towns? Which ones? Are you finding that this growth is happening most prevalently in a particular way (e.g., being approached by a community member vs. directly contacting someone you know to be a coordinator)?

Janie: We are always looking for places to expand Green Streets to, but there is not a formal recruitment process currently underway. A large portion of the expansion is people in other towns contacting us and saying, "We want to get this going in our town. What can we do?" We have been lucky that Green Streets speaks for itself and is exciting and interesting to many people. We have seen that the strongest programs occur when there are community stakeholders taking an active interest in Green Streets. We are a small organization and so it helps when people in the community are willing to really take ownership of it. Some other communities that are working on getting the program up and running are Lexington and Belmont, and another city in Maine.

Christine: Publicity stunts are a popular way to get buzz going with a grassroots campaign like Green Streets. Have there been any particularly hilarious ones that Green Streets coordinators have launched? If so, can we check them out on YouTube?

Janie: I don't know that we have any "hilarious" publicity stunts. I did bike with Mayor Simmons of Cambridge on the back of my tandem bike on the coldest Walk/Ride Day in history last February. She was so proud of doing it that she took me to her next meeting and introduced me all around! Green Streets has also been involved in parades and festivals, from the Honk! Festival to some at schools. For last month's Walk/Ride Day last Friday, there was a police-escorted bike train that went from North Cambridge to central Cambridge to east Cambridge. People all over the city told us they saw it! Also Cambridge Montessori School recently held a beautiful "go green parade" complete with a conference bike (8 cyclists all pedaling while sitting in a circle, but going in one direction), lots of music, and popsicles! It was a great venue, where our children’s’ reflective vests sold like hotcakes!

People have stilted, unicycled, hula-hooped, scootered, skipped, jogged, and pogo-sticked to their destinations on Walk/Ride Days!

Christine: I love that your initiative encourages exercise. When I was a kid my elementary school was just within the bus belt so we walked the mile in each direction to and from school every day. These days I feel like more kids get driven to school -- is that true? What's your sense on the walk vs. car trend to school these days?

Janie: I agree that more kids are driven to school today than was true when most adults were growing up. I see it everyday when I bike or walk my kids to school. I think that it is due to multiple factors. Unfortunately many people feel that we are not living in a world where it is safe for children to walk to and from school on their own, and you can't argue with a parent that is simply concerned for the safety of their child. Many people also feel that driving is the fastest way to get from one place to another, even when they spend 5 minutes at a stoplight. That's one reason for the Walk/Ride Days - it provides an opportunity and a reason for people to try out walking, biking, or public transportation and will hopefully ease any concerns they previously held regarding alternative transportation.

Christine: Do you have an opinion on which towns are the most pedestrian/bike/stroller-friendly? And which towns need improvement? On the latter, how can folks in the community encourage improvement of pedestrian/bike/stroller-ability in their towns?

Janie: All communities have areas that are conducive to pedestrians and bikes and areas that are more of a challenge. The bike path through Somerville, Cambridge, and Arlington is great, but it presents its own set of challenges. When riding on it, you encounter everything from pedestrians to pets. You can't always tell where a dog is going to run or where a person is going to walk. Some bicyclists would prefer to ride on the road with cars rather than on a path where you have to navigate around the unexpected. In starting Green Streets, we hoped to build a market and a community of people who could request better service on many fronts - biking, pedestrian, and mass transit.

Christine: You're a mom of three. How do you juggle the demands of your work with parenting?

Janie: Good question. It helps to have friends and family who can help. And it's also great that my kids and husband are really into Green Streets. They all help to spread the word about it and are patient and involved when we are at weekend or evening events. The kids enjoy the evening meetings at our house when they can hang out with kids of other coordinators or volunteers. I know that the kids like being part of the Green Streets movement. But sometimes I do have to shop, cook, garden, play with my kids, pay bills, etc. It's hard to stop working on Green Streets because I find it so exciting, yet an almost infinitely huge project.

Having help from other Green Streets volunteers also gives me a break, and is a huge source of hands on and emotional help. Certainly, many hands make light(er!) work and a lot more fun. We've received small grants that have enabled Green Streets to hire a two wonderful interns over the past year who have been a joy to work with, and who have enabled me to better balance my life. Both of these young women are wise beyond their years, and bring wonderful perspectives to Green Streets.

I work on Green Streets more than full time, though my hours are very flexible - I sometimes work in the early hours of the morning or late at night, and pretty much constantly talk about it wherever I go. I do consciously have to turn myself "off" sometimes, just to be a regular person.

Christine: I can only assume your kids "get" the green revolution. Do you have any favorite simple tips to share with our readers on how to get kids involved in green practices?

Janie: It is amazing how much kids really grasp green practices, including in this case, green transportation. Can you imagine a child who would be opposed to the idea of riding their bike/scooter or rollerblading everywhere they need to go? When you describe to the kids the environmental impact of driving, they get it and want to do something about it. We have found that often, once the children try an active, green means of getting to school, they won't let their parents go any other way. Buses, biking, scootering, and walking are all fun for kids. Including other kids in your trip also helps. Also, combinations are great - taking scooters on buses can be a quick way to get where you need to go. Our kids are sometimes as fast on scooters as we are on bicycles.

In fact, all of what we are doing at Green Streets is for the kids. Having schools involved means that my children's friends and contemporaries are trying out the kinds of transportation that we use on a regular basis. It's always great that other kids love Green Streets. My children are proud to be part of it -- though sometimes they'd like me to not stop so long to talk about it with strangers constantly!

Christine: OK, so I Google'd you and see that you've done a little family opera -- playing everything from an ant to an alien! Do you have formal music training? Are there any other hidden talents we ought to know about?

Janie: No, and no! The only hidden talent I might have is that I love planning and having parties... which is one of the reasons we created this monthly celebration!

Christine: And finally, what's your favorite thing about being a Boston mama?

Janie: Boston is a wonderful city to live in. I love it every time I cross or go along the Charles River, I love that rural areas like Lincoln and Concord are so nearby - and MBTA accessible! I love the mass transit options here, and I love that it feels like a big small town.

Unlike bicycling where, as long as there is a road you can ride, pedestrian safety is reliant on sidewalks. If you know of or live in an area that does not have adequate sidewalks and ramps, you can contact your city counselor or alderman and let them know. Or you can go to the city planning/development office and offer your suggestions.

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Know a fabulous local mama? Nominate yourself or someone else to be featured!

We’ve covered BPA in breast pumps and bottles previously, and this Thursday (May 29) at 3pm, you can attend and/or testify at a public hearing to examine the health risks posed by BPA to Boston residents, and potential action the City of Boston may take. The hearing will be held in the Iannella Chamber of Boston City Hall. Among the expected presenters are Dr. Michael Shannon of Children’s Hospital, Mia Davis of Clean Water Fund, and Dr. Steven Hentges of the American Chemistry Council’s Polycarbonate/BPA Global Group. Click here for the public hearing notice.