WORCESTER, Mass. - The fall mornings are getting colder and colder, and the Worcester County Sheriff's Office is looking to help as many people stay warm as possible through its annual coat drive.

Members of the sheriff's office, along with the reserve deputy sheriff's association, spent Tuesday handing out coats and other winter clothes all over Worcester, making stops at Net of Compassion and St. John's Food for the Poor.

Sheriff Lew Evangelidis and volunteers will be handing the coats out across central Massachusetts through Friday.

"It just shows the generosity of this community, the care people have for each other,” Evangelidis said. “I've always said, as I said today to all these folks, I said we're all in this thing together. We care for you, we love you, we want to make sure you are warm and taken care of. This is our way of letting people know you're not alone, people care about you."

"A lot of these people are so desolate, that when Sheriff Lew comes down here with the coat giveaway and his cadets, it gives praise to the fact that they want people to do well, they want people to get on track," said St. John’s director Tim Dunn.

The sheriff's office says their goal is to deliver 4,000 new coats to those in need.