Coats Available Free Of Charge To Those In Need

Winter Coat Drive

Winter Coat Drive

Oskaloosa, Iowa – December has been fairly mild, even reaching into the 50’s on occasion. The winter is far from over, as Oskaloosa residents can attest, as the previous winter seemed to go on forever.

The United Way of Mahaska County in conjunction with New Hope Community Center are in a partnership that is working to make sure that when it is cold outside, those that need a coat to stay warm can get one.

Throughout the community there are donation boxes where coats, and other winter outerwear, can be dropped off and will make their way to those in need. Coats can be selected at The Klothes Kloset located within the former Jefferson Elementary School. One room at the Kloset is dedicated to housing the donated coats. No requirements are needed in order to receive a coat free of charge from that room of donated coats.

Amy Langdon, United Way of Mahaska County Executive Director, said that 250 coats have been donated so far this year. In addition to that, the Rotary Club in Oskaloosa donated coats to the Peer Helpers under “Operation Warm.” The Rotary program bought 60 coats that, in turn, Peer Helpers found suitable recipients for. “That met a big kid need, but there’s still a big need for kids coats. There’s just never enough every year,” said Langdon.

Langdon then approached Rotary to help provide more coats and United Way would then match what the service organization spent. With that, 8 more boxes of kids coats are being purchased.

Other community members are doing what they can to help bring attention to need. Carey Legvold is once again hosting the Mid-Winter Classic at the PAC [Penn Activity Center]. The adult slow-pitch softball tournament will be held from December 19-21. Carey and Amy Legvold will have a box there for people to donate coats to those in need.

“Many families need the help, especially around the holidays. It’s nice to be able to relieve a little bit of stress on these families. Besides who wants to be cold?” says Legvold.

Posted by on Dec 15 2014. Filed under Local News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

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