Coats provided on a chilly morning

MOSES LAKE - Families lined up early on a chilly Saturday morning at Chief Moses Middle School in Moses Lake.

They waited as The Rotary Club of Moses Lake distributed donated coats for the "Coats 4 Kids" drive.

More than 650 winter coats, as well as a couple hundred sweatshirts, hoodies and winter hats, were donated for this year's program, much of which were gone within the first half-hour, Rotary member Dave Campbell said. Dozens of families continued to trickle into the middle school cafeteria throughout the morning.

The "Coats 4 Kids" program kicked off in September, with donation drop-offs throughout Moses Lake. As with most years, smaller size coats for boys and girls were the first sizes to run out but Campbell was happy to see more coats in the smaller sizes were donated this year.

Several local businesses, that wished to stay anonymous, also donated new coats.

In past years, a Warden woman, who passed away earlier this year, would collect used coats throughout the year, picking them up at garage sales and donating to the coat drive. Campbell said a Rotary member's wife decided to take on that role this year.

Any coats that weren't distributed Saturday will be handed over to the nonprofit Serve Moses Lake to further distribute to families in need.

The "Coats 4 Kids" program is in its 15th year with the Rotary Club of Moses Lake, in partnership with the Cedar Street Cleaners, that cleaned all the donated coats for free. The focus of the project is to provide children with coats for the winter, regardless of their status.