Arlee students help keep kids warm in wintertime
Karen Peterson photo
Katie Revis, left, and Savanna Titsworth fold the coats they’ve helped collect to keep kids warm this winter.
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Adults often say “put your coat on” to kids in the winter months and sometimes kids respond with “I don’t have a coat.”
“Some kids have heavy sweaters on but no coat,” said Savanna Titsworth, 17. “Kids have mentioned to me that they were cold out playing in the snow without a coat.”
Savanna is the vice president of the Arlee branch of the Family Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA), which is a club focused on developing life skills. Members of the FCCLA in Arlee are helping to make sure every local kid has a coat. They call their volunteer project Kozy Kids.
“We take donated coats to kids discreetly without embarrassing them,” Savanna said.
The group has collected and washed 25 coats in all sizes from tiny to adult. Members of the group look for kids not wearing coats at school and in the community. Teacher Rhonda Kinney, group organizer, says teachers also help the group find kids without coats.
“A teacher will tell me so-and-so doesn’t have a coat and we will get one to them,” she said.
Katie Revis, 17, has volunteered with the group for the past three years and this is one of the many projects she’s been involved with.
“I joined the group so I can help people and do things that help make a difference,” she said.
Savanna said kids are excited when she delivers a coat. One child sent a thank you card saying “I love my coat.”
The group plans to continue giving out coats until supplies are gone.
They are currently taking donations.
“If we get too many, we can store them for next winter,” Kinney said.
Call the school at (406) 726-3216 to make arrangement to donate new or gently used coats in any size.
