Kathryn Moore from the Salem Federation of Women’s Clubs Book Club presents coats collected by club members to Richard Roth, a Blue Coat volunteer. (Submitted photo)

SALEM – Richard Roth, a Blue Coat Volunteer, and Kathryn Moore from the Salem Federation of Women’s Clubs Book Club, recently loaded coats that were collected by the Salem Federation of Women’s Club members to be donated to the Blue Coats.

The Blue Coats is an organization that provides coats and warm clothing to area homeless and veterans. The Salem Women’s Federation has been collecting coats for the Sue Thomas Silent Night mission since 2019.

Since Sue Thomas passed away the coats now go to the Blue Coats, of which Thomas was a supporting member. Thomas was from Columbiana and was deaf. She worked for the FBI in Washington, D.C., and she daily witnessed the homeless on the streets. Every Christmas Eve she and her non-profit group, Silent Night, would be on the streets of Washington, D.C., providing hot meals and warm clothing to the homeless. A TV series entitled “Sue Thomas: F.B. Eye” ran from 2002 to 2005. Thomas was from Columbiana and passed away Dec. 13, 2022. Roth remembers going with her non-profit group and helping her, pushing her in her wheel chair to help others in need.