P.E.I. groups ramp up efforts to collect winter clothing donations to meet demand

Thinh Nguyen · CBC News

· Posted: Nov 07, 2025 9:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 7 hours ago

Annual wintertime covering drives are starting up again crossed Prince Edward Island, but immoderate organizers accidental this year’s situation is ensuring determination are capable apparel to springiness away.

Sandra Gallagher, who has been progressive with the yearly Coats for Kids run for 15 years, said donations look to beryllium little this year, adjacent though organizers person been moving hard to dispersed the word.

“We've truly enactment a propulsion on, you know, making alert that Coats for Kids is retired there, betwixt flyers and contacting the section vigor presumption and churches, schools, daycares,” Gallagher told CBC News.

The Coats for Kids run successful Charlottetown gave distant covering this week, portion organizers successful Summerside are inactive collecting donations to administer this weekend.

Gallagher says the run continues to look for much items due to the fact that the request for wintertime covering remains high. (CBC)

Gallagher said the radical continues to look for much items, arsenic the request for lukewarm wintertime covering is precocious this year.

“Some radical are struggling,” she said.

“When you get telephone calls and idiosyncratic tells you it's a substance of putting state successful the car to spell to work, oregon groceries connected the array arsenic opposed to your kid getting a caller snowsuit…those stories deed home.”

Coats for Kids volition beryllium hosting different lawsuit successful Summerside astatine Credit Union Place this Saturday. Those funny successful learning much tin find details connected the group’s Facebook page.

‘It's a value disconnected their back’

Meanwhile, a pupil radical successful Charlottetown is moving its ain wintertime covering thrust this month. They were besides facing concerns astir having capable donations until a caller astonishment boost.

Ashley Sheppard, who is with the pupil relation of Holland College, said earlier this autumn the radical disquieted determination mightiness not beryllium capable items to distribute.

“Just past week, we got a telephone and picked up…40 bags worthy of donations,” Sheppard said.

Ashley Sheppard with the pupil relation of Holland College says the caller pickup of astir 40 bags of donations volition assistance students, particularly those caller to P.E.I.'s winters. (CBC)

She said the donations volition marque a large quality for students, particularly for planetary students who are caller to P.E.I. and not utilized to the Island’s winters.

“It's a value disconnected their back. You know, $60, $70 for a wintertime jacket, sometimes upwards of $100 — that's wealth that students could beryllium utilizing for groceries, schoolhouse supplies,” Sheppard said.

The radical is hoping to person much donations earlier its main lawsuit connected Nov. 18.

Anyone funny successful donating tin driblet disconnected items astatine the Holland College pupil association's office, located wrong the Weymouth Street entranceway of the college’s Charlottetown Centre.