As temperatures grew seasonably cool, Ellen Evans eyed her son Kyle’s winter coat. The 11-year-old had clearly outgrown the clothes that fit him last year, but Evans was at a loss for how she could get him a new one.
“I only work part time,” Evans, 54, of Athol, said. “I wouldn’t be able to afford to get him a new winter jacket.”
This week, The Recorder’s annual Warm the Children campaign solved that problem, providing Kyle with a new coat so he can enjoy the coming snow all winter long. The campaign, which gives away clothing to children in need in Franklin County, held its 23rd annual shopping event this week.
The Warm the Children shop is set up at the Franklin County Fairgrounds, where volunteers assist families in need as they pick out winter necessities for their children. The shopping days were Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Families are selected for the program through local schools and organizations that help families and combat poverty in Franklin County.
“I thought it was just fantastic,” Evans said. She heard about the campaign through Kyle’s school and attended for the first time this year.
“The program’s definitely good for people living on a budget,” said Ashlie Wright, 29, of Greenfield. Wright and her mother Robin Phillips both stopped at the Warm the Children shop for the first time Friday.
Wright and Phillips live together with Wright’s 1-year-old daughter, Isabella, and Phillips’ grandchildren Sophie, 2, and Troy, 7. Phillips said the campaign was a blessing for their family, which has struggled to pay hospital bills following Isabella Wright’s premature birth.
“I wouldn’t be able to buy new clothes for my kids,” Phillips said. “Thank God for this place.”
The event is sponsored by The Recorder, Wilson’s Department Store and Community Action and funded through community donations. Children are selected by Community Action, a nonprofit that helps support lower income families. Wilson’s provides clothing racks and purchases the clothing with the donations, and The Recorder spearheads the fundraising effort and orchestrates the whole campaign.
In the past year, the community donated $78,347, which was spent on the clothing distributed this past week.
“If we ever get back on our feet, we’ll help donate to (the cause),” Phillips said.
Killeen Perras, the project’s coordinator and a former social worker, said she reaches out to other local organizations and schools who can help determine who is in need. The fact that the campaign is entirely local ensures all donations go to those in need. All the money is spent on clothing, with The Recorder and its partners donating their efforts.
“We know where the need is, and who to reach out to,” Perras said.
Each organization is given a time slot on one of the days. Many families who don’t have transportation are either helped by a social worker or friends.
Every year about 1,000 children up to age 12 are given winter necessities through the program, and this year was no exception. Current organizers have been working together for the past 10 years and say the experience helps make a seamless event for the families.
The reason the operation works so well year after year, according to Perras, is that they communicate with the people who are helping these families.
“We’ve been doing this for so many years now that everyone is kind of seasoned,” said Debbie Daly, who organizes the event for Wilson’s.
Now that the clothing has been distributed to the children for this winter, the project will begin its fundraising for next winter, and so The Recorder again is turning to the community and its many clubs, schools, businesses and other organizations to help.
The Recorder will carry weekly stories about the progress of this year’s drive and the people helping and helped over the next several weeks. If you have stories to tell about Warm the Children or are planning fundraisers, let us know so we can help promote them by contacting Miranda Davis at 413-772-0261 ext. 280 or mdavis@recorder.com.
To donate to Warm the Children, send a check to: Warm the Children, c/o The Recorder, P.O. Box 1367, Greenfield, MA 01302. New clothing may also be dropped off at The Recorder, at 14 Hope St., any time during the year.