An initiative by a local company to keep Chatham-Kent residents warm this winter was a huge success.
Postma Heating and Cooling ran "Operation Cover Up Heavy Up" as a follow up to the Salvation Army of Chatham-Kent's annual coat drive and collected 986 coats for people who need them locally.
"The community has come together and far exceeded our expectations in our first-ever coat drive to support the Operation Cover-up program," said Postma heating and cooling owner Caleb Postma.
Allie Matthews from the Salvation Army Chatham-Kent Ministries said they were surprised by the number of coats that came in.
"We're so lucky to live in a community where everyone works together to meet the need of others," said Matthews. "Postma helped collect almost twice as many coats as we did through the Operation Cover Up campaign that we ran a bit earlier."
Matthews added that the coats are especially needed this year.
"Demands for the coats and any sort of request for assistance has gone up dramatically over the past 6 months," said Matthews. "The cost of rent, mortgage, food and utilities has gone up exponentially and continues to rise."
Everyone who donated a new or gently-used winter coat from November 16 until December 3 was invited to fill out a ballot for a chance to win a free Lennox furnace. The winner was Shandi Dennis of Chatham.