Michigan State Coats for Kids
- Sun, Nov 18, 2018 3:30 AM
To serve a Higher Purpose
Provide warmth for deserving children during cold winter months. Councils across North America can purchase new winter coats for children in need at a discount and distribute them in their local communities.
The Knights of Columbus Coats for Kids program, which allows Local & State councils across North America the opportunity to purchase new winter coats for children at a discount and to distribute them to children in need in their local communities at no cost to the recipient. Through the Supreme Coats for Kids program, local councils have distributed hundreds of thousands coats to children in need throughout the United States and Canada.
Goal
Families struggling to make ends meet use their scarce resources to meet the most basic needs and cannot always afford the vital essential of a new winter coat. The goal of the Coats for Kids program is to ensure that no child in North America goes without a coat during the winter season. Through the dedication of councils across the United States and Canada, hundreds of thousands of new winter coats have been distributed to children since program inception.
Through the encouragement of Michigan State Deputy Bill Chasse’, State Program Director Bill Leveque and direction of Dan Searle the State Community Director combined efforts were established between Diocese and District councils. Through these efforts over 1500 coats were distributed on November 10, 11 & 13. State Coats for Kids distributions were held in Grand Rapids, Flint, Pontiac and Muskegon.
Over 80 volunteers spent an estimated 600 planning and working hours to make this transpire.
The pictures show smiling and surprised faces of children able to obtain a new coat for the winter. One young girl said she had only had hand me downs before and was so grateful for her own new coat.
One mother was so appreciative of the timely program. She had been trying to figure out how she would provide coats for her four kids. Another told of how her daughter was wearing her older sisters coat so she could come down to the drive for her own coat and give her sister her coat back.
You can also see the smiling faces of the volunteers that were overjoyed at the grace felt while participating in such a worthy program.
 | Of course, like most children the packaging the gift came in makes a great plaything. |