Back to School Blow-Out Fall Charity Hat Sale

Cool Down St. Louis, a cooling assistance program covering the Bi-State area, is holding a Back to School Blow-Out Fall Charity Hat Sale for St. Louis area college students on September 15, 2001, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at 318 North Euclid in the Central West End.

The hats, which normally retail from $75 to $125, will be going for a donation of only $5 each. There are more than 2,000 brand new summer and winter hats and caps to choose from, from retro to western, from felt to straw, and everything in-between. Students are also invited to come to the Emergency Saturday Hat Festivals between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. to receive a student discount.

\”Heat-Up St. Louis has raised more than $50,000 since it began the charity hat sales and festivals last December, with most donations averaging $25 per hat,\” said Reverend Earl E. Nance, Jr., campaign chairman for Cool Down St. Louis. \”And instead of waiting for a liquidator to take the many hats the Bee Hat Building donated us, we decided to give college students an opportunity to receive a great hat in exchange for a small donation, knowing that many of them are on a restricted budget.\” Reverend Nance said that the area college students are now part of the giving process.

The funds are distributed to social service and community action agencies in 15 counties in Missouri and Illinois that help the at-risk elderly and disabled with their electric bills, or help them with purchasing or repairing air conditioners. Cool Down St. Louis is an all-volunteer operation and underwritten by its board members and some corporate sponsors. Over $25,000 has been already doled out this summer.

Cool Down St. Louis is the cooling arm of Heat-Up St. Louis, a not-for-profit 501 (c)(3) energy assistance charity that acts as the regional safety net. Since its inception in December 2000, the organization has raised more than $135,000 to assist at-risk elderly and disabled persons, and low-income families, in Missouri and Illinois with supplementary heating or cooling grants during a time of outrageously high electric, gas, and propane utility bills.

For more information, call the Cool Down St. Louis hotline at 314-241-7668.