--- title: Arizona Girl, 12, Collects 1,000 Coats for the Homeless description: Makenna Breading-Goodrich has been collecting warm clothing for those in need for the past four years canonical: https://time.com/4165341/arizona-girl-coats-homeless/ author: Daniel White article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-01-01T19:11:03.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:47:46.591Z og:title: 12-Year-Old Arizona Girl Collects 1,000 Coats for the Homeless og:description: "I just want people to know someone cares about them," she said og:url: https://time.com/4165341/arizona-girl-coats-homeless/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6dbb19213e24d801/6988774f524fc01524df61eb/makenna-coats.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1406 og:image:height: 791 og:image:alt: makenna-coats og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 12-Year-Old Arizona Girl Collects 1,000 Coats for the Homeless twitter:description: "I just want people to know someone cares about them," she said twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6dbb19213e24d801/6988774f524fc01524df61eb/makenna-coats.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 12-Year-Old Arizona Girl Collects 1,000 Coats for the Homeless > Sponsored content. 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ## Video: Tips for Smart Charitable Giving [Watch (HLS stream): Tips for Smart Charitable Giving](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/IL21tOgy.m3u8) (2:00)  _Published 2015-11-30. MONEY contributor Jill Schlesinger explains how to get tax benefits and avoid scams._ by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Jan 1, 2016 7:11 PM UTC  Courtesy of Makenna Breading-Goodrich by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Jan 1, 2016 7:11 PM UTC A 12-year-old Arizona girl spent her holiday season [collecting coats for those in need.](http://www.people.com/article/arizona-girl-collects-coats-in-radio-flyer-wagon) Makenna Breading-Goodrich dropped off about 1,000 items at Phoenix Rescue Mission Shelter on Dec. 12, after going door-to-door collecting coats, jackets and hoodies for the homeless. The seventh-grader told _People_ that she wants to help those in need keep warm for the winter. “It gets really cold around here at night, like 30 degrees, and I want to make sure homeless people aren’t walking around without jackets or blankets at night!” Makenna said. “I just want people to know someone cares about them.” She has been taking donations for four years through an organization she started, called Makenna’s Coats for a Cause. Each November, she begins traveling her neighborhood in Surprise, Ariz., collecting jackets on her red wagon. “Something small can make a big difference,” she told _People_. “I want this to spread. A little kindness can inspire others!” ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] The holidays are a time for generosity with friends, family and charitable giving. Joining us for some tips on that is Jill Schlesinger, financial expert. Jill, welcome. Great to be with you. Jill, there are so many charities requesting contributions at this time of year. How do you handle that? Is there a way to say no? First of all, embrace no. So now, what do you do? You get your short term game plan. So you may have all ready had in the back of you mind, I make a contribution every year to x charity. Then also leave a little miscellaneous because you know what you're probably going to want to do something. Whether it's your local public radio station or whatever it is. But have that down, and yes please be willing to say, no I'm so sorry, I'm already committed. Tell us about tax advantages, what kind of timing matters? Well, the year end is a big deal, the calendar year end. And what's really important here is that if you make a pledge It's one thing, but it has to actually have been completed before the year end if you wanna get a tax deduction. It's also really important to give to the type of Charity that is actually seen by the government as a Charity, a 501 ( c )( 3 ). Ok, now if you get a donation request. How do you know if a charity is legitimate? Don't give on the phone, okay. Get everything in writing, then you can go online and check with Charity Navigator, the Better Business Bureau, you wanna see that this is a legitimate charity before you start forking over your money. Are there any in particular scams we should watch out for? Unfortunately, yes. I mean, this is one of this These hot issues. We see a lot of scams around police benevolent or firefighter's associations. And the most dreadful one that I think is around Veterans associations. But the reality is don't just give. Do a little work, do a little digging. Make sure your dollars are going where you want them to go. Jill Plesenger, great advice. Thanks so much for being here. Always so much fun, thanks. 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