Coats for Kids is back for the seventh straight year, and this time the people at Western GM Drumheller have added a little something for the adults too.
“We do it to benefit The Salvation Army here in Drumheller. This year we have added to it to be not just Coats for Kids but Parkas for Parents,” said Barb Lubinski at Western GM Drumheller.
“The need is there for adults as well as for children. There are people in the community who are having a hard time and this is something that is very easy for us all to do as a community,” she told The Mail.
“We go into our closets in our basements and look at what our families have out grown or no longer use and bring it down to the dealership, be it coats, snow pants, toques, boots, stuff that is in gently used condition,” she said.
“Our partners here at Alsco (Linen Supply) who do our linen supply here at the dealership, will take them in and they will clean them. They will come back to Drumheller in about four weeks and they will be clean and ready to be distributed by The Salvation Army at their church,” she explained.
“We thought about this a few years ago, it is such a simple concept. So many families now a days are spread out with their brothers and sisters across the country so we don’t have family to pass our things onto, so this kind of works like a family. You are passing stuff on to people down the street, your neighbours. It is a pretty simple reuse concept,” she said.
Lubinski said this event not only benefits the families receiving, but also those giving.
“You’ve freed up some closet space and made yourself feel good, and you’ve set up somebody else to be comfortable this winter,” she said.
She said anyone who wants to donate can drop off their used winter outerwear at the Western GM Drumheller dealership.
“Just drop it off here at the dealership. If your bag or your box is too big, come on in and ask one of those big strapping young men out at the front to help. They will be friendly, say hello and help carry the bags,” she said.