Thousands of clean coats ready for new families during the Coats for Kids campaign

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Everyone deserves a clean, warm coat to wear as the weather turns colder.

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Hundreds of winter coats, hats and other clothing were delivered to the UHC Opportunity Center Wednesday, all freshly laundered by the uniform company Cintas, ready to be distributed as part of UHC’s annual Coats for Kids program.

Cintas cleaned more than 4,000 coats this year, said Russ Anderson, Children’s Coats volunteer coordinator, including about 600 turned in in the final delivery Wednesday along with hundreds of hats, scarves and mittens.

Although called Coats for Kids, the program distributes winter clothing to anyone in need. This year, in complying with COVID-19 protocols, coats that failed to distribute last year are heading out the door: Anderson said they have distributed more than 1,200 coats in the roughly three weeks that Coats for Kids has been running until now. this year. They will continue to distribute coats until inventory runs out, he added.

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This year was a bit unusual in that they didn’t collect coats from the community, Anderson said, following pandemic protocols. They also can’t have that many volunteers to help process and sort the donations, so it was a great help that Cintas washed the coats before heading out the door.

If you have coats you’d like to donate, Anderson said the best thing to do is keep them a little longer, if possible – there will be a call for donated coats, hopefully this spring, before next year’s Coats. for children by car.

Individuals can find information on how to receive a coat by visiting the UHC-Hub of Opportunities Coats for Kids website at uhc.ca/coats-for-kids/.

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