A longstanding holiday effort in the community, Oak Valley Hospital District’s Family Support Network has once again put on its Coats and Cookies distribution.
Day one of the two-day effort saw a successful start on Tuesday, Dec. 13. Families began lining up around 8:30 a.m. at the West F Street FSN location in Oakdale, waiting for the doors to open at 10 a.m.
While guests waited outside, they got to listen to Christmas music along with receiving hot chocolate and candy canes.
The staff of FSN slowly began letting families in a few groups at a time depending on the family size, keeping the crowd size inside the facility at a manageable level. Once the coats were chosen, families brought them to a staff member where they were bagged while the families grabbed their choice of cookie and another snack option on their way out.
When participants arrived, they were asked to fill out a form with the number of coats they needed for their household; coats were available in a variety of sizes and styles for infants, toddlers, boys, girls, teens, men and women. As they left, they put that form in a box to allow FSN staff to call each family that showed up to make sure they got all the coats they needed.
“We had a great turnout and I am so happy to see everyone here,” Family Support Network staff member Shellie LaMar stated. “We are a nonprofit so everything here today has been donated, including all of the Christmas decorations put up inside.”
The goal of the Coats and Cookies is to make sure that all residents in need have access to a warm coat for the coming winter weather.