The Essex Knights of Columbus is hoping to provide more new winter coats to people in need this year. Holy Name Council 3305 is planning to order about 20 cases of brand new jackets through its Coats for Kids program, compared to 12 cases last year. To help pay for the coats, the Knights are hosting a pasta dinner on Sunday Oct. 18 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at St. Mary’s Parish Hall on Talbot Road in Maidstone. The program supplies new coats in a range of sizes to food banks and charities around the Essex area, including some adult coats. Chair Gordon Edwards says local organizations continue to see families turning to them for support. “There always seems to be people, especially you know, with the rising cost of gas and and food, people are reaching out. I think more and more to places like the Essex Food Bank and the ones in Harrow and Belle River and all around,” Edwards said. He says the council has already placed its order for this year’s jackets. “So we had about 144 coats last year and we’ve kind of got up from that. We’re probably going to go to 20 cases and that’s infant and there’s a couple of cases of adult men and women there too,” he said. He added that those in need won’t have to wait too far into the colder season for coats to become available. “It should be coming in, I believe, in the first part of November and we’ll have them for distribution probably in the middle of November,” Edwards said. Tickets for the pasta dinner are available at the door for $15 for adults and $10 for children under 10.
