CHESTERFIELD — Guin McClain won’t let her children or grandchildren buy her clothes or trinkets for Christmas.
Instead, they give her money.
McClain takes the cash and buys coats that are given to needy area children through her congregation at Chesterfield Christian Church Disciples of Christ.
“I told the kids, I don’t need anything more for Christmas. I’ve got all the stuff I need,” she said.
Last year, she took the money and went searching for holiday sales. She bought 31 coats.
“This year I ended up with 44. Instead of going to a movie, I go buy a coat and that’s my fun for the day,” she said.
She donates the coats to her church at 207 E. Plum St.
The church holds an annual Children’s Coat Giveaway. This year, the event is Saturday, Oct. 18, from 8 a.m. until all the coats have been given away.
The giveaway is open to the public. Sizes range from infants to teens, and children and youth must be accompanied by a parent.
Jim Dunn is chairman of the Outreach Social Action Committee and throughout the years has planned many events for needy families such as Thanksgiving baskets and Christmas projects.
McClain dropped off her 44 coats last week.
“She was just ecstatic and she loves doing this,” said congregation member Genell Keown.
When McClain started her coat collecting, she had heard of similar coat donations and thought this would be a more personal way of giving.
But the idea probably started when she was an 8-year-old girl growing up in Bluffton in northeastern Indiana. Her father was a district administrator for the Works Progress Administration, created in 1935 to provide jobs and income to the unemployed.
McClain recalled mornings when she would awaken, walk to her family’s kitchen and see a stranger sitting there. Visitors would drop by to seek assistance — money or a job — from McClain’s father.
“There would be a woman sitting there, crying and saying, ‘My child is hungry. Can you get me on the WPA? Can you please help me get a job?’
“That left such an impression on me that I thought what if you had children and couldn’t afford to feed them or clothe them.”
For McClain, the best time to buy coats is during the holiday, post-Christmas sales.
“That’s what is fun. I think I got some for only $10 and they’re good coats,” she said.
“The coats keep me pretty well occupied,” she said, “but the closet sure is empty now.”
Special Reports
HIGHER SENIORITY: Cash to coats
- Special Reports
-
-
ACS dominates local headlines in 2010
In 2010, Anderson schools faced the consolidation of several school buildings, a controversial union contract and the dismissal of 163 teachers. ACS' struggle to handle a growing budget deficit while losing its student population was among the top local stories of the year.
-
2010's Top Stories: Republicans steal show in elections
The Republicans were the stars of this year’s elections with seven Democratic officeholders in the Madison County Government Center swept from power.
-
2010's Top Stories: Double homicide strikes community
A double homicide struck the city in November, leaving residents wondering who would kill a mid-20s couple. Less than two weeks later, the answer was given in a form of teenagers.
-
2010's Top Stories: Colts bring attention to Anderson
The return of the Indianapolis Colts to Anderson for training camp had a huge impact on Anderson with record-setting camp attendance records and an estimated economic impact of nearly $6.5 million.
-
2010's Top Stories: Parks officials make cases against city
The new year of 2010 brought the firing of Anderson Parks and Recreation Superintendent Fred Reese Jr. in January. As the year came to an end, Reese won a judgment of more than $54,000 against the city.
-
2010's Top Stories: Locals had swift response for Haiti
When an earthquake devastated Haiti in January, the response from Anderson and Madison County was swift.
-
2010's Top Stories: Mixed bag for city's economic development
The year produced a mixed bag for economic development in Anderson.
-
2010's Top Stories: Biddle was a quiet hero
Melvin “Bud” Biddle died at the age of 87. He fought in the Battle of the Bulge at Christmastime in 1944. It was the last major offensive for the Nazis and the Americans, especially with soldiers like Biddle, weren’t about to let the Germans gbain another foothold in western Europe.
-
2010's Top Stories: 'Teen Mom' grabs national headlines
Local celebrity Amber Portwood, 20, became the subject of tabloid fodder in 2010 as she was charged with domestic battery and neglect following an MTV episode of “Teen Mom” in which Portwood was filmed kicking, punching and slapping then-fiance Gary Shirley.
-
Parks and wrecks: The state of the city's green spaces
ANDERSON — Kayla Hinners enjoyed a fine late-summer day at Shadyside Park recently, and so did her 3-year-old son, Jonathan Moran, and 4-year-old cousin, Grace Hinners.
- More Special Reports Headlines
-
