The Rotary Club of Burnaby Metrotown is continuing its annual Coats for Kids drive to ensure all children have warm clothing for the winter.
The club has run this project for over 20 years, working with the local school district and community organizations to deliver coats to all children in Burnaby who needs a winter coat.
Each year, schools and community service organization requiring coats give the club a list of children needing a coat, with gender and size.
“We then set up an appointment to arrive with our ‘coats truck’ so each child can pick out their own coat,” said Carina Tan-Lucero, club president. “The Burnaby Public Library, as well as some local businesses in the past, have served as drop-off points for donations of gently used coats. With the pandemic, we have had to change our protocols. First off, we are unable to accept gently used coats at this time as we do not have any collecting stations for such coats. Second, we can’t have the children get on the truck to choose their own coats. Instead, they are given three coats in their size to choose from while they stand and wait by the back of the truck to avoid close contact with volunteers. Because of the inability to collect those gently used coats, we had to buy new coats both last year and this year, which have put a lot of strain on our clubs finances as we haven’t been able to put on our annual fundraiser for this purpose.”
The community can support this project by sending their donations to: Rotary Club of Burnaby Metrotown - Rotary Coats for Kids Project - PO box #266, 105 – 7655 Edmonds St., Burnaby, B.C., V3N 0C3.
