The Enid News and Eagle, Enid, OK

November 5, 2009

Programs to provide kids with coats shows kindness of local businesses, community


The Enid area has been blessed, of late, by a series of warm, sunny fall days that make it difficult to stay indoors to work or study.

Colder weather will follow, however, and these pleasant days will be merely a distant memory.

In December 2008, the average high temperature in the Enid area was 48 degrees, but the average low was 24, including three nights that dipped into single digits.

When the weather gets cold we turn up the heat, grab some hot chocolate and stoke the fire. Most of us also put on our warm winter coats.

But not all of our neighbors, particularly the younger ones, have coats they can pull on when the chill sets in. The Coats For Kids program is designed to take care of that need.

Begun five years ago by real estate firm Coldwell Banker, Coats For Kids collects new or gently used coats for underprivileged children in kindergarten through eighth grade, although coats of any size, including adult, are accepted.

The drive, said local Coldwell Banker broker Phil Edwards, collects between 400 and 500 coats each year. The gently used coats are cleaned by Oxford Cleaners before distribution.

Coats, or cash donations, can be taken to Coldwell Banker Realty III, 101 N. Van Buren. Call 233-8833 for information. In addition, Vance Air Force Base’s Weather Flight is collecting coats for the drive. Coats can be dropped off at the Weather Flight in Bldg. 155. For information call Master Sgt. Gary Rann, 213-7885. The drive ends Nov. 30.

We applaud all involved in this worthwhile effort, Coldwell Banker Realty III, drive coordinator Sue Gungoll, Oxford Cleaners and the people at Vance’s Weather Flight, for their selfless concern for less fortunate local children.

We know Enid residents have warm hearts. Providing warm coats for needy children is a good way to prove it.