10th Annual Operation: Warm Delaware Camping Out for Coats Takes Over Frawley Stadium on November 14
Written by Kiss Media on 7 November 2026
Wilmington is camping out for a cause. The 10th Annual Operation: Warm Delaware — Sam’s KIDS Camping Out for Coats — takes over Frawley Stadium on Saturday, November 14, 2026, with the Camp Kick-Off Party running from 4:00 PM to 9:00 PM in the outfield at 801 Shipyard Drive, Wilmington, Delaware. Campers then settle in for the night on the field, with the camp-out wrapping up Sunday, November 15 at 8:00 AM.
The kick-off party is open to everyone, camper or not, with a minimum $10 donation per attendee. The evening features live music, food and drinks, a silent auction, bonfires, fireside chats with local community members, leaders and officials, a hot chocolate and s’mores bar, appetizers, and raffle prizes. At 6:30 PM, the Camping Out for Coats Celebration takes the stage. This year’s goal: help purchase 2,000 brand-new coats for local children.
The 2026 camp-out has a brand-new home — Frawley Stadium — presented by the WSFS Cares Foundation. Registration and donations are open now at campingforcoats.com. Questions? Call 302-245-5465 or email ryan@kennedyideas.com.
HISTORY: Ten Years of Camping Out for Coats
Sam’s KIDS — formerly the Delaware KIDS Fund — is a 501(c)3 organization founded in 2008, dedicated to providing goods and services to children at risk and in distressed situations. In 2017, the organization created Camping Out for Coats, a community-wide fundraising challenge built around a simple idea: volunteers sleep outside for one November night to stand with children who need a warm coat.
Since that first camp in 2017, Sam’s KIDS and the community have raised enough to purchase more than 17,766 brand-new Operation Warm coats for 17,766 elementary students at 37 different schools across the Newport, Stanton, and Wilmington area. Operation Warm is the national nonprofit that manufactures and distributes the coats. Every dollar raised goes toward putting a brand-new coat on a child — and, as the organizers put it, a new coat is about more than warmth. It builds pride, confidence, and self-esteem, encourages peer acceptance, and helps a child arrive at school warm, comfortable, and ready to learn.
The camp-out is held in honor of Sam Hanna, the organization’s greatest KIDS ambassador. Ten years in, the tradition moves to its biggest stage yet: the outfield at Frawley Stadium.
Source: AllEvents — https://allevents.in/wilmington/10th-annual-operation-warm-delaware-sams-kids-camping-out-for-coats/200030628428446; Camping for Coats — https://www.campingforcoats.com
