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Coat giveaway leaves 3,000 a bit warmer
HOWLAND
Thousands will be kept warm after visiting a coat giveaway at a church here that provided more than 3,000 coats to members of the community in little more than two hours.
The Councilman Bob Dean Sixth Annual Coats for Kids Giveaway was scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. at North-Mar Church of the Christian and Missionary Alliance, but those hoping to receive one of the coats did not wait that long. Dean, an at-large city councilman, said there was a line at the church in the early- morning hours.
“We advertised that the giveaway was going to be at 1 p.m., and the parking lot was full in the morning. They called me from the church and told me the parking lot was full at 9:30 a.m.,” he said.
Volunteers were not scheduled to show up for opening prayer at the giveaway until noon, but the doors were opened to a waiting crowd at 11:15 a.m. Dean said volunteers began distributing the coats, and by shortly after 1:30 p.m., 3,179 coats had been passed out, and the distribution ended.
Dean said he got the idea for a coat giveaway from a similar distribution in Cleveland. He started the first year with a donation of 50 coats; then it grew to about 800 coats the following year.
“It has grown each year. Last year we handed out 3,000 coats, and this year was more than 3,000,” he said. “It touches me to see these kids come in with these little jogging coats, and you know they don’t have real coats, then you see them leaving in these nice, new coats.”
The giveaway is designed so that kids do not feel as if they are receiving used or hand-me-down coats, said Dean. The church gym is set up to resemble a department store with a boy’s department and a girl’s department. Volunteers are on hand to help the young people try on the coats they like.
Dean said he knows that the large crowds are due in part to the state of the economy, but he does not want anyone to feel bad about coming to get a coat.
“About 50 percent of this has to do with the economy,” he said. “I position myself at the door to make a little joke or just smile and let everyone know this is OK.”
The entire distribution is handled by volunteers from various organizations.
“It’s unbelievable. We had 50 volunteers from the Women’s Volunteer Center, Grace A.M.E. and the Northeast Ohio Community Alternative Program. They cleaned the gym, swept the floors and took out the trash, anything we needed,” he said.
The coats were donated by the Cleveland Browns Football Organization.
In addition to receiving coats, 500 attendees received a Bible from the church.