My living room is full of children�s coats. It all started a few weeks ago when I was shopping at C0stco, and I came upon tables and tables of really nice, warm children�s winter coats for $18.99 each. I bought four of them � two girls�s and two boy�s, in various sizes -- with the intention of donating them to a coat drive, which I imagined would be easy to do in September or October.
Doesn�t it just make you want to cry to think about little kids without something so basic as a coat to keep them warm in the winter? It does me. In fact, I can�t think about it too much, or else I do get upset.
So I have the coats, and I�m searching for a way to donate them. Short of going to shelters and schools myself, about the only way I know of is to participate in one of the drives our area has every year. So I started making phone calls, and found out that the biggest, most popular, and most well-advertised drive was sponsored by a local tv station, and it is called �Coats for Kids.� Great! And on their website there is a calendar, indicating the drive is to be held � ready for this? � in January..
January? Um, it seems to me that if a child needs a coat, he needs it much earlier than JANUARY. What is that all about? So I phoned the station, left a message, and never got a call back. So I emailed the website, asking this question, and never got a response. Okay, now I�m really mad at this tv station. What they do is a wonderful, wonderful thing. But it seems really � what does it seem? Is dumb the word? -- invalidating? Insensitive? Out of touch? � to hold a winter coat drive for children in January. What possible reason could they have for waiting so long?
Then I heard that throughout the month of September, B0eing is holding its very own coat drive. Internally, as is everything B0eing, but P works there, so we could participate too. I started to feel much better�like the coats I bought might actually make their way to the kids who need them when they need them.
Then I thought I should make this opportunity available to the people I work with, so I organized a coat drive at work, stating I�d collect the coats � and money if they so chose, and I�d shop for them � and take them to B0eing. Which is what I did. I got a lot of support at work, and collected approximately 25 really nice �gently� used children�s coats. And $200, with which I bought 9 more coats at C0stco yesterday. I also collected some blankets, hats and gloves.
So that�s how my living room came to be full of children�s coats (and other things). At lunchtime today, P is taking me to B0eing to drop them off at one of their collection sites.
It�s a good thing.
And boo hiss to Kiro TV for waiting too long to do this very important thing. I wish someone could explain to me their reasons why. And they better be good.
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