Coats 4 Kids collection drive in Danville has warm intentions

DANVILLE – Beginning early next week, barrels bearing the Coats 4 Kids logo will start appearing at churches, banks, schools and businesses.

On Thursday, Sharon Sawka and her son Tanner Sawka, as well as Kathy Richard and Lynda Morgan, were using their decorating skills at the Danville Area Food Pantry, preparing the barrels.

The project is a collaboration of the Salvation Army, Department of Children and Family Services, Catholic Charities, HALO, Project Success, Provena United Samaritans Medical Center, the Vermilion County Health Department A-OK Kids program and the 708 Mental Health Board.

"We talked about doing this last year," said Morgan, a DCFS child protection supervisor, "but the idea got a late start, so we said we'd mark our calendars to start getting things together in September."

Sawka, director of social services at the Salvation Army, said her organization does a coat drive every year, but to have other agencies involved will really help.

"We always get plenty of adult coats," she said, "but the children's coats are few and far between. I don't know if they use them until they are thrown away, pass them down or put them in garage sales as something that would really sell."

The committee of representatives from the involved agencies will split up the locations of the barrels and monitor them.

"We have three dry cleaners who have volunteered to clean any coats that need it," Sawka said.

The Salvation Army sees a great need for coats every year.

"Some of these people move from place to place and can't take a lot with them, so they seek out the community resources wherever they are, and in winter a coat is a necessity," she explained.

Morgan said her office begins to get reports of inadequate clothing around the first of November every year.

"They come in from social workers, doctors' offices, schools, counselors, even concerned neighbors," she said. "Both Kathy and I used to work for public aid and would see this kind of need."

Richard, now the director of the HALO Project, and Morgan believed creating a central resource for coats would be a real asset. The Salvation Army fit the bill.

The barrels will stay out until the week of Thanksgiving, before being collected for the final time.

Danville Township and the Danville Food Pantry donated the barrels and will distribute and pick them up at the end of the campaign.

"It's been a fun project to work on," Morgan said. "Whenever I made calls to find places to put the barrels, I also offered the options of donating money or coats too. Most said they'd take a barrel, but any of the options help the project."

"When I see an adult in a light-weight coat when it's cold, I don't give it as much thought as seeing a child shivering waiting for a school bus," Morgan said. "I'm a sucker for doing something to change that."

In addition to the project logo, the barrels are decorated with pictures of coats colored by children in various programs.

"We wanted kids involved too," Sawka said. "Their colorings give the barrels just the right touch."

Coats can also be dropped off to Sawka at the Salvation Army offices, 855 E. Fairchild St. Donations to buy coats can be mailed to her as well; please indicate Coats 4 Kids on the donation.

Call Sawka for more information at 442-5911.

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