BRATTLEBORO — Of the 700 children from Windham County families who were eligible for warm winter clothing, 314 children received aid from the Kids in Coats Fund in its first season, according to Sue Graff, executive director of the United Way.
This winter marks the first full year since the agency created the charitable effort to replace the Reformer Christmas Stocking, which has fully disbanded after more than 70 years of providing clothing to children in need.
Coordinators of the Christmas Stocking, affiliated with and supported by the Brattleboro Reformer but a separate charitable entity, said last year that an aging volunteer force and increasing stress of raising the funds were two factors that made it impossible to sustain the effort. The United Way soon stepped in to create Kids in Coats.
Last winter, the Christmas Stocking volunteers made their final donations as the United Way began raising funds for the new entity, and this year those funds - $25,000 - went into the community, Graff said.
The program, for income-eligible families with children from birth to those who are in sixth grade, is now actively raising funds for clothing to be distributed as the weather grows cold in 2017.
The goal for next winter is $75,000.
Unlike the Stocking, which purchased, stored, organized, and distributed clothing directly, Kids for Coats gives recipients vouchers that can be used at a number of consignment and thrift stores around the county.
Participating stores include Experienced Goods Thrift Shop (Brattleboro), Love It Twice Resale and Consignment (Brattleboro), Northeast Mountain Footwear (Brattleboro), Sam's Outdoor Outfitters (Brattleboro), Whippersnappers (Brattleboro), SEVCA's Good Buy Thrift Store (Bellows Falls), Second Chance Shoppe (Townshend), the West Townshend Country Store Thrift Store, and Twice Blessed (Wilmington).
That strategy is designed to give recipients more for their money and to keep that money local, Graff said, expressing gratitude to the merchants for their participation.
She called Love It Twice owner Leighann Cwikowski a “local hero,” noting that she has been going “well above and beyond to help families - she accepts vouchers from DCF and Head Start and has been collecting winter outwear for a year to prepare for the Kids in Coats demand.”
Though aspects of the program have morphed from the Christmas Stocking, Graff said the spirit of the former charity remains. “We want to honor the Stocking tradition,” she said.
The program is a separate entity from other United Way endeavors, which include 14 programs with eight to nine partner agencies. The programs fall into four broad categories: health, opportunity, prosperity, and education.
“We are learning,” Graff said. “We want to hear from the people in the program, to hear how it goes for them. We want to hear from the stores accepting vouchers.”
Kids and families in need
The United Way received more than 400 applications this fall from nearly 60 referral sources.
Those agencies, including 30 public schools, state agencies, the state Department of Children and Families, early-education providers, and nonprofits that help people cope with poverty.
Families with income below 130 percent of the federal poverty line are eligible for the Kids in Coats program, Graff said, noting that the same standard is used in Vermont for determining if children qualify for free lunch programs.
The disruption from the change in programs has taken a financial toll. The $25,000 raised for the first year in Kids in Coats is much lower than the funds raised for the Christmas Stocking. In contrast, in 2014, the Christmas Stocking raised $90,000 and dipped into reserves to spend $130,000 on coats and boots for 1,500 kids.
“There are already efforts in the community to address the gap,” Graff said.
One such effort is Warm Hands, Warm Hearts, a program that takes donations of what its board chair, Robert Fagge, described in a letter to the editor as “gently used clothing” - especially hats, gloves, coats, and other winter outerware - and distributing it to people of all ages in need.
A collection box is on the porch of the Brattleboro Masonic Lodge at 196 Main St., between the First Baptist Church and the post office.