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The Warren Salvation Army gave away nearly every coat, hat, blanket and set of gloves it had Monday during a quickly-mobilized winter-clothing giveaway.
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Kerrie Smith of Warren and her son leave the Salvation Army on Franklin Street with coats and other items they can use to get through the winter. They were among scores of people who came Monday morning to the giveaway, prompted by the bitter-cold temperatures coming to the Mahoning Valley this week.
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
The Warren Salvation Army gave away nearly every coat, hat, blanket and set of gloves it had Monday during a quickly mobilized winter-clothing giveaway.
The project at the agency’s Franklin Street Southeast offices was arranged when it became apparent that a possibly record-setting cold snap was going to hit the Mahoning Valley early this week, said Capt. Dianna Morales of the Salvation Army.
“This was kind of a quick-turnaround idea,” she said. “We’ve done this a few times, so we have an idea how to do it.
“We knew it was going to get really cold, and we had some coats, so we got some more,” she said of clothing donations in recent days.
By 4 p.m., the Salvation Army had been notified that additional coats would be arriving, but it wasn’t clear yet when they would be available. Anyone needing items should call the Salvation Army at 330-392-1573, said Capt. Mike Morales.
Morales said he didn’t know how many people came for the giveaway, but the agency counted about 1,500 items being provided.
About 18 families already had obtained items after only 30 minutes Monday morning, and dozens of others were waiting in the lobby.
Among the items available Monday were 50 new coats and other items provided by Berk Enterprises on Thomas Road in Warren and the Warren Rotary Club.
The people picking out items Monday morning said the help is greatly appreciated.
“Right now, I’m separated from my husband for three months. I have nothing, so this helps,” one woman said. “When I left, I left pretty much with the clothes, and it wasn’t cold yet,” she said of why she had no cold-weather items.
“I’m not working, so being able to get coats is a blessing,” Kerrie Smith of Warren said as she collected some things Monday morning with her son.
“I just have a windbreaker, so I need a coat,” said Cindy Root of Warren. “I’ve had walking pneumonia the last three weeks, and I don’t have a car.”
Her friend, Susan Klinger, has a car, but recently it was involved in an accident.
Klinger said she’s been wearing the Cleveland Indians coat of her father, who died recently, but it’s worn out.
“She’s outside all the time shoveling snow and stuff,” Root said of her friend Susan.
At the Warren Family Mission’s 361 Elm Road location, coats, hats, pillow cases, pillows and other items are being given away this week at the noon lunch and 4 p.m. dinner, said Chuck McCorkle, manager of the facility.
The Family Mission also has a place where men can get temporary housing to get out of the cold.
The men’s facility doesn’t have any regular beds available, but 30 to 40 cots can be brought in, so 30 to 40 more men can be accommodated, McCorkle said.
Six men arrived at the shelter since Friday night, and seven other men have called asking if there’s room for them, he said.
The Family Mission doesn’t have any space for women or women with children, so they are referring them to the Beatitude House in Warren.