Wilton Congregational Church is holding it’s 50th Annual Election Day Coat Drive. With an easy-to-remember motto, “Remember to Vote and Donate a Coat!” WCC members are hoping Wilton residents will help support their effort.
Donation hours actually begin this weekend, just a couple days before Election Day on Nov. 4. Church members will be staffing the donation area at the church on Nov. 2 from 11 a.m.-2 p.m.; Nov. 3, from 8 a.m.-4 p.m.; and Nov. 4, from 8 a.m.-4 p.m..
Not only are organizers asking for gently used, clean coat, but they welcome donations of linens, fleeces, blankets, sleeping bags, and winter gear, including mittens, gloves, hats and scarves.
The coat drive was started in 1963, when a group of women in town learned that some children in the south couldn’t go to school because they didn’t have shoes. These women organized and ran the “Friends of Children Annual Clothing Drive” for 31 years, eventually bringing the donations to Bridgeport when shipping to Alabama became too expensive.
In 2008, members of the Wilton Congregational Church assumed organization of the event, using the church’s large Pilgrim Hall to collect and sort the coats. The donations tend to be in good condition, says WCC member Jonathan Foltz, but a number of church members sew and mend the damaged items and even wash some when needed.
This is considered the 50th year of the drive, rather than the 51st, because one year was skipped.
According to Foltz, organizers make sure to help take care of families in Wilton; they work with Wilton Social Services to find out what items and sizes are needed by families in town first. These are set aside before the rest of the donations are trucked to Bridgeport and Norwalk. Those remaining items are donated to the Bridgeport Rescue Mission, Norwalk’s Open Door Shelter, Person-to-Person and Wilton Social Services.
Wilton Congregational Church is located at 70 Ridgefield Rd.. For more information please call 203.762.5591.