Community

UP communities collect winter coats

LANSING - With biting temperatures making their annual return and people beginning to grab for their heavy coats, Upper Peninsula communities are working to make coats available to those who need them.

For example, the State Police typically has an annual coat drive, the Baraga County Shelter Home in L'Anse has a free coat pick-up and drop-off rack outside its outreach center and schools collect coats for students.

"UP winters are incredibly cold, even dangerously cold," said Angela Kolehmainen, the executive director of the Baraga County Shelter Home, which offers shelter, support and advocacy for domestic violence victims.

Winter in the UP reaches average low temperatures of 20.2 degrees below zero, according to the Upper Peninsula Travel and Recreation Association website.

"It's not widely understood that we do have a homeless population as well, and it's important we support those in need," Kolehmainen said.

According to University of Michigan poverty solutions data, 13.9% of the UP's population lives in poverty, a little over 42,000 residents. Children make up 15.2% of the UP's population in poverty.

Unhoused people are especially susceptible to extreme weather conditions in the UP, said Kolehmainen.

In previous years, State Police held an annual Winter Coat Drive. Posts in Sault Ste. Marie and Marquette were bases to accept donations.

While the specifics are being worked out, Ben Eckola, the public information officer for the State Police's Eighth District covering the UP, confirmed that the coat drive will happen again and is expected before the new year.

"I have spoken with one of the main organizers for the UP and we are looking forward to it again this year," he said.

Eckola said last year the drive gathered 178 coats, a major increase from years before that.

"The positive feedback and ways this coat drive has been able to help fellow community members has been great," Eckola said.

"We are very appreciative of the support and generosity that has been shown in the past. We anticipate this year will be the same and look forward to being able to help people in this way."

In L'Anse, Kolehmainen said the Baraga County Shelter Home's coatrack has been around for about six years.

"People come and drop off coats that are available to anybody," Kolehmainen said. "There is a lot of traffic. I will leave the office at 5 p.m., then come back and it is cleared out with maybe two coats left."

"We get wonderful donations and put out anything we get," Kolehmainen said. "We've had several local women in the community that bring in hand-made hats and gloves, as well as quilts and other things they have made."

"We are very rural. We don't have resources that you see in other parts of Michigan, so we do everything we can to take care of our communities," she said.

She said donations of children's sizes are less common than those for adults.

"There's not as much kids' stuff as we would like to see," Kolehmainen said. "We see a lot less children's items because kids really wear out their stuff here."

According to Carrie Shrier, a Michigan State University Extension educator specializing in child and family development, "to prevent frostbite, dress children in several layers and be sure their head, neck and hands are covered. Infants and toddlers should wear one more layer of clothing than older children and adults."

The home's outreach office partners with the nonprofit Copper Country Angel Mission on coat drives and works with the Salvation Army in Marquette for delivery when specific sizes are needed, Kolehmainen said.

Kris Uehlein, a secretary at Mather Elementary School in Munising, said it can be a challenge for low-income families to send their kids to school in temperatures below zero if they don't have the resources to keep them warm.

She said there are no coat drives run through the school but "tons of donations" come in during the year from families, local businesses and charitable organizations.

Uehlein said many low-income families in the area reach out to their schools for assistance.

Uehlein said she expects the usual demand which has been getting a couple dozen donated coats for students in need.

Despite the weather, Uehlein said students still go outside year round for recess or other outdoor activities.

Mather Elementary School makes sure to tell families to "bundle-up their kids for being outside," encouraging them to wear snow pants and coats, as well as gloves, hats and lots of layers.

"We're the UP - we are used to being cold," Uehlein said.