COLD KIDS? NOT HERE
Sue Bartholomew, with North Idaho CASA, and Knight Wayne Woodward fill up a bag full of clothing at the Knights of Columbus giveaway Friday morning. (MADISON HARDY/Press)
Sue Bartholomew passed a bag of clothing to John Crane at the Knights of Columbus giveaway that will help keep his four children warm and cozy all winter long. (MADISON HARDY/Press)
Grand Knight of the St. George Catholic Church Knights of Columbus Jim Burkhardt holds up just one of the 1,000 plus jackets intended to be gifted to children in the Kootenai County area on Friday. (MADISON HARDY/Press)
Over 1,500 coats, caps, scarfs, mittens and socks were given away from the Knights of Columbus St. George's Catholic Church on Friday. (MADISON HARDY/Press)
Volunteers at the Knights of Columbus winter coat giveaway passed along tow full trash bags of goodies to Dani Rodriguez that will help dress her kiddos for the cold. (MADISON HARDY/Press)
More than 11 percent of Idahoans fell below the poverty line in 2019, and in Kootenai County, 38 percent are considered the working poor.
To help keep those families warm this winter, three local Knights of Columbus councils gave away over 1,500 pieces of clothing for children in need.
St. George's Catholic Church's downstairs area was packed Friday with over 1,000 coats, 435 stocking hats, 108 pairs of gloves and mittens, 68 sock sets, and 170 scarfs. The giveaway was part of a nationwide program supported by the Knights of Columbus since 2009, but this was its first time in North Idaho.
For the last 11 years, Knights in central and southern Idaho have sponsored the event, but because of Kootenai County's rapid population growth, the state council moved it up north.
"We know poverty levels in our area are higher than the national average," Grand Knight Jim Burkhardt of St. George's Catholic Church said. "That's true not only in Post Falls and Coeur d'Alene but in Kootenai County as a whole. It's very much there, so we want to make sure we do our part to alleviate some of that suffering."
Over the last few months, Burkhardt said the councils had asked their parishioners to help put together funds to place an order with the supreme council, which heads the nation. Little did they know that their original order of 23 cases — filled with 12 coats each — would be matched two for one.
"I had a Hertz moving truck back into my driveway two weeks ago, and a guy got out wearing a UPS uniform," Burkhardt said. "They had to go rent a truck to deliver our order of 70 cases, so I had about 840 coats in my garage until the event."
The three councils made up of the St. George's Catholic Church, St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church, and St. Pius X Church banded together for this program in conjunction with state leadership. On Friday, around 30 volunteers worked shifts from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., passing out a range of winter clothes for children ages 5 to 18.
"Our goal is that every year we will have this up here and will alternate within the three Catholic churches," Burkhardt said. "We don't care what your group is, who you're affiliated with, what your faith is. We just want to give this clothing out to kids in our community, that's all."
Christmas, especially this year, is rapidly approaching with much insecurity. After COVID-19 job losses, periods of unemployment and medical challenges, many Kootenai County families are worried about their finances.
For Coeur d'Alene residents Elbeth and John Crane, this is their reality. On Friday, they came to the coat giveaway, grabbing supplies for their four children, ages 7 to 13.
"He's been unemployed for nine months, and I'm not able to work," Elbeth said. "His unemployment declined three weeks ago, so we seriously have no income right now. This makes a huge difference for our family."
Inside the kitchen, volunteers were filling up large bags to the point of bursting as children would receive a hat, gloves, socks, coat, and scarf, carefully coordinated by color and needs. As the line of cars rolled in, volunteers were popping in and out with their arms full of winter clothes.
Dani Rodriguez of Post Falls drove one of those cars. She has six children, the eldest being 11 and the youngest barely a year old. While they usually try to reuse hand-me-downs, after changing hands so often, it's time for a reboot.
"It's hard to be able to provide all the time, so this is awesome," she said. "All my kids have grown out of their stuff already, and they play so hard that the hand downs don't work. Once you go through so many kids, it gets to be overwhelming."
The Knights reached out to over 400 families as well as nonprofit organizations like St. Vincent de Paul, Union Gospel Mission, Kootenai County Boys & Girls Clubs, New Beginnings Baptist Church, and local school districts, among other groups.
"Out here in North Idaho, it's very common that if you request something, you will get more than you need because people are so generous," Burkhardt said. "Seeing the responses of kids when their coats come out is amazing."
