As the temperature continues to drop during the holiday season, one local charity is doing its part to help those in poverty stay warm with a donation center that makes its seasonal debut at Santana Row on Black Friday.

Santana Row will be one of the many coat drop-off centers for One Warm Coat in San Jose this year. Starting on Black Friday, donations can be dropped off from 10am to 10pm at Santana Row until New Year’s Eve.

One Warm Coat is a local was founded by a few concerned San Franciscans in 1992 before growing into a nationwide community that has distributed over 3 million coats nationwide so far.

The program has been in San Jose-area since 2002, where there are 200 community-organized coat drives. Last year, the nonprofit collected nearly 20,000 coats in the South Bay.

“Our most phenomenal growth was achieved after we went digital,” said Sybil Hunt, community outreach director for OWC. “What started with one small group of friends has gone viral. At the moment, we have nearly 2,000 coat drives registered in our database, all taking place in the next two months.”

Since its debut, the nonprofit received the Gold Halo Award for best national/local campaign in 2007 and in December 2008, the White House hosted its own OWC drive.

After Black Friday, donations can be dropped off at several Santana Row stores including Crate & Barrel, CineArts Theatre and the Santana Row Concierge. There are a number of community centers and churches also collecting coats for OWC including InnVision, Emmanuel Baptist Church and Scared Heart Community Service.

According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, approximately 15 percent of Americans who live in poverty cannot afford to buy a warm winter coat.

For a full list of donation locations and more information on One Warm Coat visit the website www.onewarmcoat.org.