United Way and St. Vincent de Paul Team Up to Keep Peterborough Warm With Coats For Kids Program

United Way Peterborough and The Society of St Vincent de Paul have teamed up and are distributing free coats to those in need through the annual Coats for Kids and Adults Too Program.

Group of Vinnie’s volunteers load up donations. Photo courtesy of United Way.

United Way Peterborough has been coordinating Coats for Kids and Adults Too since 1987. Community members donate clean, new and used coats on donation days at Vinnie’s thrift store.

Coats that are donated are sorted by volunteers who check for things like rips or broken zippers before they are given to people in the community that need them.

Following the same protocols they did last year the coats are left to ‘quarantine’ for at least 72 hours prior to distribution.

In 2020, the Coats for Kids program distributed close to 1,000 coats, snowsuits and snow pants to children and adults in Peterborough.

“The need is there. With the pandemic we think the need is even greater, we know there can be issues and if they have to give up something it might be a nice warm winter coat,” said Stephanie Levesque, Coats for Kids Coordinator, United Way Peterboroguh. “ We’ve considered in the past ending this program, but then we see the response and how many people are in need.”

Coats were collected Oct. 16 and 17 at Vinnie’s Peterborough and Lakefield Location.

Levesque says each year they rent a 15 foot truck to transport the donations and for the first time since she started the position five years ago it was filled by the end of the day.

Coats will be distributed on Saturday from 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. at Murray Street Baptist Church, 175 Murray St.

Mitts for Kids, a program that provides hand knit mittens and hats for kids, will also be there Saturday.

Those wishing to receive a coat need nothing but patience and a mask, says Levesque. Due to COVID protocols there is a limited number of people allowed in the building, so attendees should expect to wait in a line outside the building.

Masks will be available on site for those that need them.

Any coats left at the end of Saturdays distribution will be given to local shelters to distribute throughout the season. None of the coats will be sold for profit.

For more information contact Stephanie Levesque at 705-742-8839 X32 or by email at slevesque@uwpeterborough.ca.

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