Published: August 16, 2008 04:43 pm         

First Christian Church ‘Coats for Kids’ drive begins

By DELANIA TRIGG

Register Staff Writer



A warm winter coat may be the last thing most of us think of in the middle of August, but even in summer heat, members of First Christian Church are working on their Coats for Kids drive.

Lucy Haverkamp, a longtime member of First Christian, said the coat drive began as a one-time event after a church garage sale.

“A lady in our church, Joyce Cargill, got the idea (for a coat drive) from a previous First Christian Church she attended in Wichita Falls,” Haverkamp said.

Using nothing but the money earned by the sale, the church decided to obtain about 40 coats for needy area children.

The chair of the church outreach committee eventually resigned and Haverkamp was asked to take over the position.

“We didn’t have anything other than the garage sale money to contribute at first, but we saw the need (for coats) was so great, we decided to do an annual Kill the Chill Chili Cook-off,” she said.

The church set a monetary goal with the understanding that if fund raising efforts for the coat drive fell short, church funds would make up the difference.

So far, the volunteers have never failed to reach their goal, she said.

At first, coats were distributed only to Gainesville public school students from junior high to kindergarten, she noted.

But once again, First Christian volunteers saw a greater need and couldn’t turn away.

“Now we ( the coat drive project) are countywide, private schools included,” she said.

The drive begins in July each year with “Empty your pockets.” As the name suggests, church members and volunteers donate their loose change to get the drive started.

This years’ pocket change offering netted $1,100.

Haverkamp said the church also gets assistance from “a dedicated individual who is not a member of our church but who is a wonderful angel who works on this project all year long asking for donations.”

The volunteer would like to remain anonymous, but he has a gift for fund raising and “could sell snowballs to Eskimos,” she said.

Along with the pocket change fund raiser, Coats for Kids is also supported by a chili cook-off held each October.

The event is slated for Saturday, Oct. 26 this year, Haverkamp said.

The cook-off has evolved from a modest cooking contest to a fullblown entertainment event, she said.

The cookoff’s first judges were young men from Fish Creek Ranch — an educational and residential facility for at-risk boys which has since closed its doors.

The church later tapped local celebrities to judge the cook-off and required the contestants to ham it up with comedy skits.

Voters choose the winning chili by dropping donations into jars at the contestants’ tables.

This years’ judges are expected to be a group from the Gainesville Fire Department, headed up by Assistant Fire Chief Wally Cox, a First Christian member.

The first cook-off netted a modest $400.

Over the years, the event has grown.

Last year’s fund raiser brought in about $8,000, she said.

Each year, volunteers reach out to teachers for help identifying students who might require a new jacket or coat.

The first notices are sent to educators a couple of weeks into the new school year.

“After about two weeks, teachers are starting to get to know the students and find out which ones need help,” she said. “Teachers get the sizes and the gender of the students and we work with a coordinator within each school.”

Purchasing, packaging and delivering the coats has become more streamlined.

“Once we just went to stores and purchased coats. Later, we would go to Syms (a clothing store) in Dallas. (Volunteer) Betty Morgan and I did it for the first two or three years. Every weekend, we’d make a trip to Dallas and fill my Jeep full of coats. Now we have one source that we turn to for the coats. Our members also sometimes buy coats during the year and are reimbursed for their purchases through the fund,” she said.

Like warehouse workers filling orders, committee members sort, package and deliver the coats.

“Deliveries are the best part,” Haverkamp said.

The volunteers also started a tradition during the early years of the drive.

“We add a piece of candy and a little note to the pocket of each coat,” she said. “The note is just a brief, positive message.”

The whole process from the chili cook-off to the coat deliveries lasts about three weeks and requires the board members to work “just about every night of the week for three weeks,” Haverkamp said. “The project has become a wonderful monster.”

Last year, the church provided coats for at least 350 children.

Haverkamp said the group will never turn away a child in need of a jacket.

“If anybody needs a coat and doesn’t get one, we will not turn them down. They can call or come to the church, and we can give them a coat,” she said.

Coats for Kids unifies the church, she added.

“This is a project that every member of the church is behind in their own way,” Haverkamp said.

Monetary donations to Coats for Kids can be dropped off or mailed to the church at 401 N. Dixon St. Donors should note “Coats for Kids” on the memo line of their checks.

For more on the project contact First Christian Church at 665-2053.

Reporter Delania Trigg may be

contacted at dtrigg@ntin.net