The state Department of Correctional Services will attempt to make the holidays a little warmer this winter by donating 77 winter coats to three local agencies.

The donation will be part of a statewide program meant to find an alternative use for 7,000 coats, officials said.

The old coats, which used to be part of the prison guards' winter uniform, were no longer needed after the state changed the uniform requirements in order to save $200,000 annually.

All state agency insignias will be removed before the coats are delivered to local shelters, Salvation Army and other charity groups, officials said.

“It was apparent that we would no longer have a use for these coats, and it made sense to make the most of these surplus items by helping our fellow New Yorkers,” said DOCS commissioner Brian Fischer in a press release.

All of the coats were made by inmates at the Clinton Correctional Facility's Apparel Shop five to eight years ago, officials said.

Each coat has a zip-out quilted lining, a zipper front and flapped pockets with hand warmer insert openings on the sides.

The local agencies that will receive the navy blue coats include:

• Unity House of Cayuga County, 108 South St., Auburn, which will receive 50 coats.

• Auburn Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1975, 44 Genesee St., Auburn, which will receive 15 coats

• Lock-Mor Thrift Store, 57 West Cayuga St., Moravia, which will receive 12 coats.