An important charity drive that aims to keep folks warm through the winter is experiencing an unfortunate freeze in donations.
Coats for Kids, which is administered by Westlock Family & Community Support Services, has not received nearly enough donations this year, and as a result have already had to turn people away.
“I think people weren’t thinking about winter yet, but winter’s here,” FCSS director Jayme Baxter said. “We have barely any coats.”
The program has not been in dire straits like this in all the years she’s been involved with it — on average, 200 residents per year make use of the service and they have never found themselves so short on supply.
“We started out with about 10 or 12 adult coats and a bunch of little kids ski sets, and they’re gone already,” she said.
While there are a handful of coats on the racks at the FCSS office, Baxter said there is a pressing need for coats for kids in the 12-16 age range, as well as for the very young. There are some adult-sized coats available, but in a very limited range of sizes.
There are now families who are waiting for the donations to come in, now that the snow has hit and the temperatures have cooled off.
“We have families coming in and asking,” she said. “They come in every day to see if there are any new coats.”
Coats aren’t the only thing Coats for Kids focuses on — basically they hand out any essential winter gear like ski pants, mitts, toques and boots. All of these items are in short supply.
She added that in past years they have given coats to many of the local schools in case a child’s coat breaks or a family can’t make it in to the FCSS office to pick up a coat, but she’s not willing to ask the schools to return those coats in case they are needed there.
“Hopefully lots of people have lots of coats sitting in their closet that they don’t wear, or last year’s coats that their kids are too big for,” Baxter said.
Coats For Kids is a program run in many communities all over the world that seeks to ensure children are properly equipped for the winter months.
Donations can be dropped off at the Westlock FCSS office or Sobeys.
