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Fulfilling a need

Local businesses make donations to Operation Warm It Forward coat rack

By Kelby Wingert 4 min read

Just a few days ago, Operation Warm It Forward's coat rack downtown at 521 Central Ave. was nearly empty.

"It was kind of bare, I was a little surprised when I saw it," said Kati Frahm, communications coordinator at Decker Truck Line Inc..

On Wednesday, Frahm and Decker Truck Line Vice President of Administration Tammy O'Tool were able to completely fill the coat rack with warm winter wear for those in need.

Operation Warm it Forward was started in 2017 by Linette Nelson and Troy Schroeder, both of Fort Dodge. Nelson learned of another city that was doing a community coat drive and leaving coats on street poles around town for those in need to pick up at their convenience.

Since then, every winter, the duo set up a coat rack outside of Schroeder's Memories in Focus studio at 521 Central Ave. The coat rack stays outside 24/7 and anyone is invited to come up to take what they need. Around 150 to 250 coats pass through Operation Warm It Forward each year, Nelson said.

Having the coat rack outside and in downtown makes the coats accessible and the act of taking one anonymous, Nelson said. Some may feel they have barriers to other coats programs from other agencies and organizations in the community, like having to meet specific income requirements, or just feeling embarrassed to ask for a coat. Having this anonymous coat rack takes away those barriers.

The donations received this week were a welcome surprise, Nelson said.

"We definitely haven't had the coat rack as full as we have in the past," she said. "But with what Kati and her team just did to get all those coats gathered, definitely helped us restock it."

Shimkat Motor Co. and Nestle Purina Pet Care also brought by donations collected by their employees, she added.

While the typical frigidly cold temperatures haven't hit Iowa yet this winter, they will sooner or later. When they do, those coats will provide some relief from the chill for many in the community. Winter coats can be a huge expense that many aren't able to afford. Even discounted coats from thrift stores can be out of reach for some.

Frahm said at Decker Truck Line, around the holidays the communications committee works together to figure out ways to give back to their communities.

"We have a bunch of different terminals across the country, so we pick something for each of our communities," she said. "We adopt a family every year for Christmas, which we did again this year, but we also thought a lot of people have items kind of sitting around their homes and we were talking about that and we figured that if we were to organize a coat drive, it would make it a little bit easier for everyone at the office to just bring everything in and then we can deliver it ourselves."

So a few weeks ago, Frahm set up an area in the Decker employee cafeteria for staff to leave donations and she sent out an all-staff email to let them know about the project.

The donation table "overflowed" with coats, Frahm said. Many of the coats donated were also brand new with tags still on them.

"We were really surprised about how many items we got, and there was a good mix of women, men, children, all different sizes," she added.

On Wednesday, Frahm and O'Tool were able to deliver the collected donations and fill the entire coat rack. In fact, all of their donations wouldn't fit, so the extras are being stored in Schroeder's studio and will be added to the coat rack as space opens up.

"I just thank the community for their support," Nelson said. "We very much appreciate the donations and even them just sharing Facebook posts or getting the word out. That has helped us maintain this all these years and we keep it growing."

Those interested in donating a coat can just walk up to the coat rack and hang the donations up.

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