By Celine Klosterman
IOWA CITY — “There’s lots of new coats here!”
A blonde girl wearing a sky-blue and coffee-colored winter coat rushed to her friend to share the good news. Elsewhere in the cafeteria at Robert Lucas Elementary, a boy exclaimed, “I like that one! I want it, Mom!”
Parents and children flocked to lunch tables covered with stacks of pink, purple, green and brown coats in plastic sleeves the evening of Jan. 14. “What size are you looking for?” asked Knights of Columbus and Squires from St. Wenceslaus Parish in Iowa City. “Want to try something on?”
About a dozen Catholic men and teenagers oversaw the distribution of free coats through KC Council 14385, which took part in the national KC Coats for Kids program this year for the first time. The Supreme Council purchased and provided 1,000 coats to the Iowa Knights of Columbus, which offered 130 to Council 14385, Grand Knight Paul Kaefring said.
“I have five kids, so this lets them get new coats that fit instead of hand-me-downs,” Jillian Searles said as her daughters Lauryn and Ashley Sessions tried on pink and purple coats. “It helps them feel better about themselves because they look nicer.”
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