Who's that showing off their winter coat? It must be the ones who came out for the AGLOW International Matteson Single Moms' Winter Coat Distribution! They were happy to model and strike a pose for the camera - children and grown-ups, alike - because they were so delighted with their new finds!
Our sponsor, Diamond Insurance in Matteson, IL provided the perfect place to host our event. It was warm and spacious and their staff was courteous and helpful. Our volunteers slipped right into their roles to ensure that everything ran smoothly. Glory to God for allowing us to be His hands and feet in the earth and to remind people that He still cares.
Statistics
- We received requests for 200 coats
- We had 65 coats donated to us
- 57 moms and children came to our event
- 90% of the children received nice warm winter coats
Detailed Summary
(For any group interested in having a Coat Drive event in their area.)
- We did a general flyer with the dates for our Moms Coat Drive and Coat Pick Up and placed it on Eventbrite to go to the general community. Anyone could sign up. We asked for the parent’s name, parent’s size, children’s first name and size. As people signed up we calculated the numbers for boys, girls, sizes.
- We also advertised the drop off locations. One of our printers, Abbott Printing allowed us to have a large box with a sign saying Aglow International Matteson Single Moms Coat Drop-Off in their store. Their customers were encouraged to bring in coats. Allstate Insurance allowed us to place a large box wrapped in Christmas paper with a sign saying Coat Drive Drop Off and to use a large empty room in their office building to store the coats.
- We purchased 4 coat racks from Walmart for $9 each. We had one rack for moms, one rack for girls, one rack for boys and one extra rack. As the coats came in we placed them on hangers and placed them by size, by boys, girls, moms on the racks. We had some hangers and we purchased additional hangers 7 for $1 from the Dollar Store.
- If a donated coat needed cleaning, we took it to the CDW Cleaners which charges $3.00 per coat.
- The day before the event, we placed the coat racks neatly in another larger room at the Allstate office. Everything was already in order by size.
- The day of the event, we had a sign in sheet with a receptionist to greet the moms and children as they came in. They signed in and she also informed them of the next upcoming event that our group was having.
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- The Allstate owner placed chairs neatly for everyone to sit.
- At the event start time – 2:00 pm, we had a group prayer in which everyone held hands, asking God to bless everyone in attendance.
- One of the ladies directed 5 people at a time to come to the back to look at and try on coats.
- We were able to get to know the moms and their children just a little while they were choosing a coat. They could just take whichever coat fit them with them.
- The kids and the moms were smiling and really looking like new people with their warm new coats.
- Any coats that were left over were donated to the local Salvation Army.