Knights of Columbus, from left, Matt Johnson, John Reindl and Bob Greco present new coats to Staci Wilson of the African Violet Foundation, second from right, earlier this month.
By Lindsay Steele
For The Catholic Messenger
The Iowa Knights of Columbus (KCs) recently kicked off their annual Coats for Kids program to distribute new winter coats, youth sizes 8-18, to families in need.
About 1,300 coats are ready to be distributed in Iowa, with 425 in the Diocese of Davenport, said Bob Greco, deputy of Iowa Knights of Columbus District 52.
The Fairfield Knights of Columbus Council will distribute 48 of these coats through the African Violet Foundation (AVF), a nonprofit organization that serves and supports middle and high school students and their families.
This is the second year the program has been offered in Fairfield. John Reindl, program coordinator for the local KC council, commented that “the program has been well received in Fairfield and is expected to continue and possibly expanded if the need in our community continues”. Families in need of coats can contact AVF at 641-919-4206.
Council #532 in Davenport will be distributing 264 coats. Interested families can contact the council on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/loras532.
Coralville council #15049 will be distributing 48 coats. Bob Wiederin can be contacted for more information at 808-295-3309.
Houghton council #3905 (319-469-2641) and Long Grove council #14695 (563-285-4596) are also distributing coats.
Since the program’s inception in 2009, the Knights of Columbus have distributed more than 400,000 new coats throughout North America.
For more information about the program or to make a donation, go to https://www.kofc.org/what-we-do/charity/coats-for-kids/.
