Chicago man gives back by donating coats to the needy

Sometimes it's those who have the least, that give the most.

Brandon Cox has been collecting winter coats for two months and doling them out of the back of his car.

"My mom always raised me to give back," Cox said.

Cox reached out to Fox 32 reporter Natalie Bomke on Facebook, explaining his upbringing and his need to give.  "I'm 35 years of age.  I made it growing up on the West Side of Chicago with no criminal record.  I love helping kids and just letting them know that there are always positives in life."

As he sifted through a trunk full of coats, Cox explained his reason for giving.  "God placed a seed in my heart to reach out to the homeless and to give back."

On this chilly December afternoon, one of the people Cox has helped stops by to talk.  His name is Curtis Jackson and he's homeless.

"He gave me a coat and he gave me some clothing. Just human kindness, it's the best thing you can get from anybody," said Jackson.

Cox was raised in the Austin neighborhood.  He's the son of a single mom with three boys.  It should be no surprise that his mother has her own giving foundation called Hands of Hope for You.

"I was a pregnant teen," said Cox's mother Karla Cox-Naptali.   "Wherever I went, my sons always came out and participated.  It just sort of moved into my son's.  They just kind of gravitated into whatever I did."

Cox-Naptali explains her son Brandon avoided the street life because she always taught him to be true to himself and his community.

"People need to know that no matter what circumstances go on, what's inside of you, what you believe, is the thing that catapults you to the next step," she said.