Fall is my favorite time of year. I love the changing of the leaves, the pumpkins and the fall décor. And I’m a big fan of Halloween.

But with fall comes a change in weather. Not just rain, but cold.

So in October, I begin to get ready. I break out the gloves, scarves, long-sleeved shirts and jackets to stay warm and dry.

But what about the countless number of homeless families with children in our community? What do they do?

Approximately 1.6 million children will experience homelessness in our country over the course of a single year. Some 200,000 are recorded as being homeless on any given day (or night). Researchers estimate that every 33 seconds a child is born into poverty. This makes families with children one of the fastest-growing segments of the homeless population today.

Cold weather poses a real challenge to anyone who is homeless. Not only do they have to find a warm and safe place to sleep at night, but they need warm clothes to wear. And children are especially impacted.

According to the statistics, homeless children are sick four times more often than other children and are more likely to be absent from school. They can have four times as many respiratory infections and twice as many ear infections. And children who are homeless are four times more likely to have asthma.

Cold temperatures can wreak havoc on an individual. The cold forces a body to lose heat faster than it can produce it. This can lead to hypothermia, which is an abnormally low body temperature. When an individual’s body temperature is too low, the brain is affected. Often, the individual has trouble thinking clearly or moving well. And because children are less able to regulate their body temperature, they are more susceptible to this condition than adults.

But there are other reasons to keep homeless children warm.

When kids are warm, they are better able to concentrate in school. Just think if you shivered most of the night because you were cold. You would be fatigued and irritable the next day – hardly the best conditions under which to learn. How would you feel if you didn’t have a warm coat to wear when all the other kids went out onto the playground? You might feel isolated and embarrassed.

The solution to this problem is fairly simple – give kids winter coats and sweaters to wear when they go to school, or sadly, have to sleep in their car at night. Just keep them warm.

How can you help?

Consider supporting Operation Warm, which is sponsored by Renton Rotary. Every year, Rotary works with Communities In Schools of Renton to identify low-income children and then donates hundreds of new coats to the Renton School District. For some kids, this will be the first new coat they have ever owned. I’ve volunteered for Operation Warm, and it’s pretty gratifying to see kids pick out a brand new coat and then leave with big smiles on their faces. A new coat can give a child a greater sense of well-being and can generate a feeling of worth.

You can also support the Renton Kiwanis Clothes Bank, which provides new and gently used clothing and coats to needy families.

And when I reached out to Friends of Youth, which runs a local shelter for teens, to see if they needed coats, Terry Pottmeyer, executive director responded, “Absolutely. We’d love that. Our shelter numbers are up 20 percent this past year, and with the winter on its way we could use the help.”

Sue Paro, executive director of Communities In Schools of Renton said, “We can’t take used coats because we don’t have the ability to wash them, but we are in desperate need for new coats for our elementary and secondary kids.”

But don’t stop there. Kids need warm hats, scarves and mittens. And because we live in the Northwest, they need umbrellas or water-resistant coats and shoes.

And let’s not forget our adult homeless population. A.R.I.S.E. is the local homeless men’s program, and the Center For Hope is the local homeless women’s shelter. A new coat would go a long way in not only helping to keep these people warm, but quite likely, in getting a job.