Lions Club ensuring St. Marys stays warm with annual Koats 4 Kids, Teens and Adults Drive

By Emily Stewart

St. Marys residents will have a chance to donate their winter clothing to those in need this November.

The St. Marys Lions Club will be collecting winter coats, mitts, hats and scarves for their annual Koats 4 Kids, Teens and Adults Drive until Nov. 29. Winter-clothing items can be dropped off at any of the banks in St. Marys – Meridian Credit Union, Bank of Montreal, Scotiabank, TD Canada Trust and Royal Bank – and G.C. Boyle Law Firm.

Cascade Cleaners, the sponsor of Koats 4 Kids, Teens and Adults, will launder and hang the donations that are free for the taking.

"All the people come in and they take what they need,” said Gerry Haliburton, member of the St. Marys Lions Club. “Quite often, we'll also find donations being left behind.”

The St. Marys Lions Club receive an average of between 115 and 150 winter-clothing donations each year. Haliburton said while the club doesn’t always keep track of the numbers related to the clothing drive, he said with the increasing cost of living, he knows there’s a great need.

“Judging by what I see on the internet and what I hear in the news,” he said, “I think things are getting worse and I think we're definitely in the position to help the community out here. There is a big need for that, no doubt at all."

Haliburton added warm clothing for the colder days is a must-have to stay healthy.

“It's an absolute essential for physical health,” he said. “You just can't keep your immune system going and be comfortable if you're not warm and dry.”

He added not staying warm during the colder months can impair concentration.

“As a student, you're not going to be able to concentrate in school or, as an adult, you're possibly not going to concentrate on work to do your job properly."

Though there isn’t a donation jar set up for Koats 4 Kids, the St. Marys Lions Club collect monetary donations from patrons year-round at all events.

“If we're running a barbeque, they'll just give us money,” Haliburton said. “They don't want the food. They’ll just donate. We're more than happy to accept it.”