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Residents kept warm this winter

A Turner Valley church is opening its doors to offer warmth to residents struggling to make ends meet.
Jacket Racket coordinator Ida Wegelin holds up items available at the Lewis Memorial United Church.
Jacket Racket coordinator Ida Wegelin holds up items available at the Lewis Memorial United Church.

A Turner Valley church is opening its doors to offer warmth to residents struggling to make ends meet.

The Diamond Valley Pastoral Charge is offering gently used jackets, scarves, toques and mittens to residents of all ages at its Jacket Racket event in the Lewis Memorial United Church Tuesdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Thursdays from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Outdoor winter clothing is being accepted in donation boxes at the Alberta Treasury Branch, Pharmasave, the town office in Black Diamond, the Royal Bank of Canada, Royal Canadian Legion and Turner Valley town office.

“As the jackets come in we hang them up,” said Jacket Racket coordinator Ida Wegelin. “People just come and select them. It’s quite an open thing.”

Wegelin said Jacket Racket has provided warm winter clothing to Diamond Valley residents for years and she doesn’t see the program slowing down any time soon.

“We were not going to do it last year,” she said. “They thought maybe this is something we could take off our list because we have other things to do, but there was a demand and the same this year. People were asking the town office and the post office if there is going to be a Jacket Racket this year.”

Wegelin said many items have been donated the past two weeks in the collection boxes, but more clothing for youngsters is needed. The St. George’s Anglican Church donated outdoor children’s clothing left over from its October rummage sale, but more is needed, said Wegelin.

“We don’t have a lot of children’s winter wear,” she said. “Adult clothing is what we’re getting more of in our collection boxes.”

Families aren’t the only ones in need of warm winter clothing. Wegelin said residents of all ages struggle to make ends meet this time of year.

“It goes right across the board,” she said. “There are single people where money is tight and there are families who come in looking for children’s clothing a lot of the time. It serves all.”

How long the winter clothing will remain at the United Church depends on demand, said Wegelin.

“If things are hanging there for three or four weeks and it’s not being used then we’ll just let people know if they want a jacket they should be coming in and getting it now,” she said. “We will give them a couple of weeks notice that the jackets could be boxed up.”

The volunteers typically pack up the remaining items and donate them to the Rowan House or charities in Calgary such as The Mustard Seed in January, she said.

“After Christmas people are pretty well set for the winter,” she said. “But it can be until the end of January if we have a cold snap.”

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