Help and Advice

I need your advice.
And then I might possibly need your help too, but advice first.
I've talked before about how I have a group that knits for charity.
It is a good group of people, but involvement is sporadic.
Plenty of reasons why, but you know if people willingly want to give of their time, great; I won't demand it.
We've been knitting hats, mittens, and scarves to give to the local school districts for kids in need, most of whom live in an area that is rural with little industry (beyond Wal-Mart, and that's more a company store and a rant for a different time).
There is also a local coat drive that takes place in the area where they collect used (or new) coats and pass them out to those in need.
I said to my friend, Flower, the other day, "Wouldn't it be great if we could have a hat to pass out with each of the coats?"
Ding!
Great idea, right?
I think so, but I'm at a loss as to how to make this bigger than what I have now.
On top of this I read in our church bulletin that there are 30 homeless families in our small town.
These numbers may not seem so terrible if you compare them to the national average, but we have a town of approximately 8,000 where the median family income is $50K.
Could you run your family on that much a year?
And might I remind you that we live in the great white north where the Farmer's Almanac is calling for snow in October.
Brrrr.
So I want to expand my hat, scarf, and mitten contributions, but specifically hats.
Any ideas on who I should approach in the town?
Should I contact the coat drive coordinator, the school social workers, or my pastor?
I've even considered contacting the group that runs the learn to knit program at the local women's prison to see if some of the prisoners might be interested in helping out.
Do you think I should get in touch with the Rochester knitting guild for contributions? They put out a call to the area for these same items and got over 2,000 pieces donated; however, all of those articles are going to the kids in the Rochester City School District.
The urban poor get more attention than the rural poor, that's for sure.
Please let me know how you think I can make this into a bigger project.
I'm not doing this for attention, but because I can't imagine sending a kid out into the winter weather if they are not properly clothed.
There's got to be a way we can help.
Thank you!