Coats for the Cold People

Seven. That’s how many jackets my kids have in their current size. Each.

As the weather changed and the cold air blew into the High Plains, I thought of those people who may not even have one jacket. People who have no warm bed or roof over their head.

Just in time, I saw a Facebook post from Mustard Street Charities in Amarillo. In addition to feeding cheeseburgers to 400+ people who are chronically homeless twice a week, they were asking folks to donate warm clothes.

I decided this was a good time to teach my kids about helping others, so today, we bundled up and headed to Wal-Mart to do some shopping.

The whole way to the store we talked about how some people don’t have jackets and how cold it is outside and we need to help the people and buy them warm clothes. I made sure we all understood we weren’t buying anything for ourselves, but that the kids could choose the jackets and other items that we would give away.

We ended up buying a trash bag full of jackets (Harper insisted on pink), gloves, hats, and socks. The kids chose every item, placed them on the conveyor, and helped load them into the car.

I was hoping I had gotten the point across about the time we left the store. About then, Braun looked at the greeter and said, ” We bought coats for the cold people.”

If there is one lesson I hope to teach my kids, it’s the importance of helping others when we have the chance to do so. I’ll never forget that day in Wal-Mart and I hope my toddlers never do either.

{There are a number is great charities who do this kind of work–please find one in your area and help if you can! If you are around Amarillo, here is the Mustard Street Charities link.}