Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

GPS expands coat distribution

The chill of fall is here and the Gurdon Primary School is planning to put coats on kids, teens and adults, with getting your arms in a coat being done on the basis of who gets there first.

GPS will conduct its third annual coat distribution from 8 a.m. until noon on Saturday, Oct. 15 at the elementary school.

Melissa Franklin, school counselor, said the effort started when unclaimed coats were noted at GPS "and we had kids who were freezing."

"We advise parents to put your childs name in his or her coat, so if they ever forget the coat at school you can get it back," she said.

Having a coat distribution seemed like a fair and productive way to get rid of the abandoned garments, so Franklin said free coat distribution at GPS started evolving.

The coat give-away is now an effort to help the community at large," she said.

At present, there are about 20 coats already on the rack at GPS, unclaimed and ready to give away.

Franklin said she plans to send notices home to parents and ask them to clean their closets. Predominately coats fitting children will be sought.

She wants them to send the garments to school on Friday, Oct. 14.

"We will take them if they are small, like tots even. And we will take them if they are for teens or adults. But the majority of what we are doing at the school is for those in Pre-K through the fourth grade," Franklin said.

"This effort is like a free yard sale. We ask that parents dont send them until Friday because we really dont have much of a place to store them.

"Our GPS staff encourages everyone to come out and see if a coat or jacket might fit you. Winter is coming on, people have the slightly used coats in their closets and those coats that will not be used might as well be worn by someone in need."

Franklin said coats donated from the community are welcome. GPS parents are encouraged to volunteer at the school on Saturday to help give away the coats and jackets.