Comfort and joy given and RECO received through Coat Closet

— Trisha Benton Laurel Advocate

LAUREL — A local church is on a mission to provide warm fuzzies this winter.

The Laurel United Methodist Church’s annual Coat Closet ministry is open for its 12th year, giving away coats, hats, gloves and kindness.

“Everybody’s really thankful,” said Karen Rasmussen of Dixon. “Kids are our biggest joy. They’re just so happy. Even if it’s a 70-degree day here they leave with their new coat on.”

The Coat Closet is intended for individuals residing in Cedar and Dixon families and is open from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. every Wednesday at the church. The closet begins in October and runs through mid-January. Winter attire is available in infant sizes through adult with some snow pants and snow boots also available.

The winter weather gear is given away free and confidentially with no questions asked.

“We help anybody who shows up,” Rasmussen said. “We never say who’s been here. We just want to help.”

Rasmussen, who manages the Coat Closet with Maggie Huetig of Concord, stresses that individuals wanting a coat need to come into the church and try one on. Children must be with a parent. Arrangements can be made outside of official Coat Closet hours to accommodate schedules.

“Not every style or size fits,” Rasmussen said. “We want to be sure they have a good coat with a working zipper, that fits them or we’ll try to find something else. We want our families to be proud of the coat they have.”

Donations of clean coats that are in good condition are gladly accepted to re-gift to someone else in the community in need, Rasmussen said. Monetary donations are accepted, too, but not necessary and sometimes politely refused especially for those receiving coats.

“We had a lady come in and say, ‘Is $20 enough to buy coats for two kids?’ We said, ‘Put it back in your wallet and have a Merry

Christmas,’ “ Rasmussen said. WHAT W

She’s been a part of the Coat Closet ministry at the church WHAT W since its inception.

“We had an outreach group at church that was just sitting around, tossing ideas out one Christmas. We usually find a family to buy Christmas gifts for and often that includes giving them a new coat. We decided we could do more good for more people by opening a coat closet,” she said.

So far in 2021, the Coat Closet has helped 11 different families. One of those families had seven children, each receiving a coat. But Rasmussen also helped the man who came in alone and needed a work coat and the senior citizen needing outerwear to get him through the cold winter season.

From that first year to a dozen years later, Rasmussen is left renewed by the warm fuzzy feeling that comes with giving.

“They say, ‘Oh, you just don’t know how this going to help me out.’ You would be surprised how thrilled people are,” she said. * Knights of Columbus ranked #6 in the permanent partnered “When with that Statista first to independently family survey comes more in, than 1 you think, if that’s all we do this year, at least we helped someone.”