HELENA — Coats are somewhat becoming a demand now that we are in cold temperatures and the pandemic is hurting families. One organization located inside Berkshire Hathaway in Helena is collecting coats to give to The Friendship Center. Originally, the One Warm Coat Drive was scheduled along with the Downtown Helena Fall Festival. One of the One-Warm-Coat founding board members decided to continue the collection.
"The reason that we decided to do this was, you know, we had put the word out, we were getting great responses,” says Ann Snortland, founding board member and Realtor at Berkshire Hathaway. “We decided it was too important to let go. So, we just kept going with it even though the festival needed to be canceled because of COVID-19."
That response led to over 30 coats the first week. They’ve decided to extend the coat drive another week and have already received another 30 coats.
“It's absolutely warming,” says Janelle DeBray, the Coat Drive Coordinator. “I mean, this community is nothing short of a great community and they support their neighbors. So, this is just another project that solidifies how warm this community is."
“Think about the fact that we all can appreciate a little bit more what it's like to be shut in and kept in with COVID. Think about what happens when you don't have a coat to be able to go out in normal times. So, the idea of just getting one simple coat can have a huge impact on somebody's life," says Snortland.
The last day to donate is October 30th, 2020. Although they've collected many coats already, Berkshire Hathaway is asking for more coats, specifically in kid's sizes.
Due to the big response from the community, Berkshire Hathaway plans on hosting another coat drive during the holiday season.
Berkshire Hathaway is located at 50 S. Park Avenue, Helena, MT 59601.
