MOUNT VERNON — As the weather turns colder Gault’s Plaza Cleaners and the Kiwanis Club of Mount Vernon team up to launch the annual Coats for Kids drive.
The coats will go to Interchurch Social Services and The Salvation Army for distribution to Knox County children and families.
Since the Kiwanis Club started the program 22 years ago, nearly 13,000 coats have been collected, cleaned by Gault’s Cleaners and distributed to children in need of a warm winter coat.
A record number of 864 coats were collected and distributed in 1994, according to the records at Gault’s Cleaners. Coats are most needed for young children.
The coat drive started today and will run through Oct. 30. The coats may be left at Gault’s Cleaners, all Mount Vernon city schools, the Knox County Service Center, Knox County Head Start centers, The Salvation Army of Mount Vernon, United Way of Knox County, Peoples Bank branches, Connell’s Furniture, Sanoh America and all First-Knox National Bank locations.
The Kiwanis Club asks the community to clean out closets and donate the coats that are in good condition to the project.
