“Coats for Kids!” Has a nice ring to it. Thinking of children warm in cold weather should cause many reactions. Hopefully, one of those reactions is to play golf.
Say what?
Monday, July 28, at the lush Franklin County Country Club people who care about kids will swarm the course for the 17th annual scramble that has raised over $300,000, which in turn has provided clothing needs for more than 6,500 children.
 It is all done professionally through teachers and others that spot the need and, exercising confidentiality, give those names to the people that see that coats, shoes and any other clothing needs are provided.
There have been pretenders to the throne, but the Coats for Kids program was started by former U. S. Congressman Glenn Poshard. When Poshard stepped down he began looking for an organization to take it over. He couldn’t have come up with a better “new manager” for the team.
For the past 16 years, members of the Egyptian Building and Construction Trades Council (BTC), well known for their overall community contributions, have been hosting the outing each summer to provide financial support for the program. Their success is a given. Council leader Tom Caliper readily heaps praise on all of the volunteers that work on this worthy project. Enter another supportive group. Matt Donkin, Franklin-Williamson County Regional Superintendent of Schools comes to the fore to help the children. His office disperses the funds raised by the event. For example, last year Donkin handled $34,454.57, with Franklin/Williamson Counties getting more than ten thousand of that total. “We were able to serve 543 needy children,” Donkin said. Over the years 6,500 children, who might have been cold, have been able to brave the winter with adequate coats, shoes and other needed items. Contributing to all of that and having fun on the golf course, too? It doesn’t get much better than that, Caliper said.
The registration will begin at 7 a.m. Monday, with a “shotgun” start at 7:45. For those that cannot make the early session, the second group registers at noon and has lunch. They will tee off at 1 p.m. For additional information call Sue at 618-937-4505.
Donkin explained the excellence of the program. “It’s a time for us to get together during the hottest time of the year to benefit the most vulnerable among us during the coldest time of the year. Teachers and school employees identify the kids most in need of coats, shoes, shirts and other basic necessities.
“Then they let our office know what to buy and we purchase the appropriate size and materials and take them to the schools.”
One school employee told the Daily American that there is nothing to compare to seeing a kid’s face light up when they receive these items and they will proudly show them to friends.
Last year some 200 golfers negotiated the course about evenly split between the morning and afternoon session.
If you can’t play in the event but want to be a part of it, you can sponsor a hole or a tee with your name on it. And nobody would get mad if you just sent in a check for this worthy cause, Caliper said.