WESTPORT — Coats are being collected by the Westport Fire Department for the Bridgeport Rescue Mission’s “Share the Warmth” campaign.

New or gently used winter coats can be donated through Dec. 9 at collection boxes at Fire Department headquarters, 515 Post Road East, and Town Hall, 110 Myrtle Ave.

The Bridgeport Rescue Mission provides free food, shelter, clothing and addiction-recovery services.

The coat drive “touches the lives of hundreds of men, women and children from the area’s most distressed, local neighborhoods,” Fire Chief Michael Kronick said in a statement urging support for the campaign. “While the temperatures fall, there are many families who will struggle to keep their families warm.”

The collection “gives us the opportunity to give back and lessen the burden that families are carrying,” Firefighter Rob Lenois, the president of Westport Uniformed Firefighters Charitable Foundation, added in the statement. “Together, we can make a difference, help change lives and share hope.”