The Bronte Village Winter Coat Drive brought warmth to the community on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024, at St. Dominic School on Rebecca Street.
Trucks arrived at 4 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 18, loaded with over 1,500 coats collected over the past several months, ready to be distributed to those in need the following morning.
Volunteers of the drive say Oakville Hydro played a crucial role in supporting the initiative, providing storage space for the donated coats and volunteering both time and resources to make the drive possible.
Hydro staff loaded the trucks and delivered the coats to the school on Friday night, where volunteers worked into the night, setting up the auditorium until around 9 p.m.
On Saturday morning, volunteers arrived at 7:30 a.m. to finalize preparations before opening the doors at 8 a.m. Despite the chilly weather, approximately 1,000 families came by the drive, with some lining up as early as 6 a.m.
The distribution was well-organized, with stations set up for winter coats - sorted into categories for women, men, and children.
Additional stations offered boots and essential winter accessories like hats, scarves, mittens, and gloves. Volunteers worked diligently to ensure everyone had what they needed for the upcoming winter.
With thousands of donations, the crowd kept coming and the drive was almost out of men's coats by 10:30 a.m.
This is the 11th annual Bronte Coat Drive and event organizer Ruth Perkins says it's always a rewarding experience to give back.
"This is giving the community an opportunity to do something personally that doesn't cost them anything, just take something out of my closet and give it to someone who needs it," said Perkins.
"We give out invitations to the agencies in the area and they give them to their clients, and they'll come today with their invitation, which allows one family per invitation and they will shop for what they need or what they can find," she continued.
Last year's coat drive served approximately 900 families. This year, with the need significantly higher, volunteers estimate that the event surpassed that number, helping closer to 1,000 families.
By comparison, when the event first took place in 2013, 470 coats were collected, and around 350 people were served. Since 2020, event organizers say the demand has risen by approximately 50%.
Collectively, event volunteers contributed between 500-600 hours to make the day happen.
Said event volunteer David McCleary, "This (time) was spent, contacting agencies to provide information on how their clients could get coats, collection at the church, promotion at events such as Lake Notes, the Farmers Market, and (Bronte) Block Party. There were 4 Saturdays of drop-off in September and 6 days of sorting and racking. Then there was the setup day and Saturday (official opening day)."
McCleary says the "core" of the coat drive consists of Walton United Church, Epiphany Church, St. Dominic Parish, and Oakville Hydro. Together, they helped volunteers serve the steady stream of families preparing for the winter.