Mary* turned 58 years old the day she received a winter coat from Sunshine Ministries in St. Louis.



“Today is my birthday so this is my birthday present,” Mary said. “I love it.

I'm 58 years old today and this is one of the best birthday presents I've gotten

in 58 years."



Mary joins more than 5,300 people who have benefited from the Alpine Shop’s

annual One Warm Coat drive, according to the store’s blog.  The outdoor

retailer has partnered for the past four years with the national organization

One Warm Coat, which takes gently used winter coats and distributes them

to local charities.



Sunshine Ministries joined the St. Patrick Center, Coats for Kids and Edgewood

Children’s Center as St. Louis organizations that received coat donations from

the Alpine Shop this year. All three Alpine Shop stores, located in Krikwood,

Chesterfield and Columbia, participated in the drive, which ran from Oct. 22 to

Nov. 18. This year alone the shops collected 1,200 to 1,300 coats, Alpine Shop

Kirkwood assistant manager Jake Parr said.



“Women living in poverty in our area who have growing children look forward to this every year, because they always have a need for a new coat,” Sunshine Ministries Director Carol Clarkson said. “For the past four years, we’ve given coats to everyone we serve. Alpine coats are our greatest resource.”



Partnering with local companies like the Alpine Shop is at the foundation of One Warm Coat’s mission, said Sybil Hunt, the organization’s community outreach director.



“Every individual who learns about a need and responds builds a stronger foundation for their community and people in need,” Hunt said. “The Alpine Shop (staff) inspiring their community and giving a gift of more than 5,000 coats, that’s magic.”



Customers donating coats received a 15 percent to 25 percent coupon in return, depending on how many items were donated. Alpine Shop Columbia store manager Brennan VanMatre said this offered customers a good incentive to give away coats sitting unused in their closets.



“It gets people to notice and grab those old coats to toss in,” VanMatre said. “It’s neat to be a part of a bigger effort that distributes locally. There’s a greater hand-to-hand effect.”



One reason the drives have been consistently successful over the years is due to the personal relationships Alpine Shop employees form with their customers, VanMatre said.



“It’s great to get to know people, and see them come back into the store and call you out by name,” VanMatre said. “It helps create more than just a salesperson relationship.  So we can do a coat drive and people trust us that everything is going to the right places. We can actually say these are the organizations the coats are going to, and you can follow them piece by piece.”



Because of the nature of what they do, folks at the Alpine Shop are well educated about how cold weather affects the body and are uniquely positioned to take and pass along coats, Hunt said.



“By helping us achieve our dream, the Alpine Shop is also helping people to get outside and enjoy winter,” Hunt said. “It’s so sad to hear of children not being able to go outside at recess to play because they don’t have coats. Together we’re helping people get outside and play.”



A grandmother helping to raise her grandchildren in St. Louis said she was extremely excited to be receiving an Alpine coat from Sunshine Ministries.

​

“This is for my granddaughter,” Suzy* said. “The zipper is broken on the only coat she has so she will be so excited when I bring this home to her.”



*One Warm Coat recipients requested that their last names be  excluded from the article.