It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas inside 710 First Avenue in Ladysmith. That’s the home of Coats for Folks, a pop up, ‘department store’ where the merchandise is free for those in need, and where volunteer staff are ready to help shoppers find what fits.
There’s a Men’s department, and a Women’s, a room where kids can get decked out, and another where parents can find toys to go under the Christmas Tree.
The whole operation is set up in an unoccupied commercial space, which used to house an employment office. The layout is perfect – lots of rooms, with a desk at the front, allowing Coats for Folks to welcome people and invite them into its ‘departments’ in separate rooms. There’s also space at the back for receiving and sorting goods.
It’s a busy place. Coats for Folks is open Tuesday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and could be in operation through to February.
“The clientele are the community,” Myf Plecas said, “and I can’t say more than that because we’ve got totally everybody who comes here. The clientele are people who come here to get an item, and people who come to donate.
“We encourage people to donate, then look through and take something back,” she added.
Why do Plecas and the other volunteers put in the time to make Coats For Folks the success it is. “Because I enjoy it,” Plecas said.
“I worked in health care and I saw a lot of clients who had nothing, they had no clothes and I used to buy for them. Particularly at Christmas time.”
So a location that brings people together, at this time of year especially, makes sense as far as Plecas and the Coats for Folks volunteers are concerned.
There are memorable moments – like last year, when a fellow came in, looking for an outfit he could go to a job interview in. With that in mind, Plecas set to work.
“What we try to do is to clothe the person throughout,” Plecas said. “We try to work with their style, what they like, and put together a whole outfit.”
In this case, the gentleman got a ‘beautiful tweed’ jacket, Haggar pants, a ‘lovely shirt.’ “He just gleamed, and off he went to his job interview.”
The big reward for Plecas was hearing back that the newly attired seeker got his job. It doesn’t get much better than that, if you want to make a difference in your community.
“I feel that, even though people are down, we still need to have respect for them, and we have to dress them and make them feel as good as possible,” Plecas said.
Volunteers are always wanted at Coats for Folks. You can call Plecas at 250-245-3201 if you’re interested in helping.
Of course another way to contribute is to bring in quality used clothing and gift items for the Coats for Folks shelves, and for their ‘regifting room’ where people who have received something that doesn’t quite suit their tastes or needs, can pass it on.
