CONWAY, SC (WBTW) – The holiday season is here and people have helping others on their minds. Some families in Horry County will have a warmer winter thanks to Coast RTA’s annual Coats for Kids Campaign.
“If you need it we got it here for you,” said Douglas Herriott, the transportation manager at Coast RTA.
“With us providing transportation we get an opportunity to see folks from different walks of life,” said Herriott.
He says the folks at Coast couldn’t ignore the needs of the community, “we came up with this project 10 years ago and it’s been a huge success so we’d like to see it moving forward.”
Organizers say hundreds of new and gently used coats were donated, which helps out 300 to 400 people.
“‘Our winters are getting colder, and we need to be prepared for it, so this is a great program that allows us to do that,” said Shanti Gettys.
Gettys lives in Conway, she comes back to the coat drive each year to provide winter wear for her two growing boys.
“The price of coats in the winter time are high, so this allows to save our budget,” said Gettys.
Families also had a Santa’s Helper to help pick out the right jacket, volunteers with the coat drive say the chance to give back to the community keeps them coming back year after year.
“I remember this time last year a child asked me how much is this jacket and I said, it’s yours. It’s yours,” reflected volunteer Bobby Lamb.
“It’s nice to have stuff out here now available to us, not just my family but other families who are in need and who needs the help,” added Gettys.
For six year old Surhey Brown, the excitement over her new coat was, “because it’s my favorite color.”
Any leftover coats that went unclaimed were donated to Goodwill.
