North Star Community CU Shares the Warmth with Coat Drive

Maddock, ND - North Star Community Credit Union recently held a coat drive to help families in need have warm winter outerwear, going into the cold winter season ahead. Credit union branches, including Willow City, Rugby, Velva, Butte, and Cavalier all participated. The idea of recycling gently used items to provide for others is not new at this credit union. Over the past years, they have recycled backpacks for kids, and Halloween costumes. But the outpouring of support for the coat drive has been nothing short of tremendous.

In Willow city, where the school has been closed for nearly ten years, they didn’t expect to have much success with a coat drive. So they decided to focus on new hats and mittens, and hung up a few signs around town hoping to collect a few items. The first donation came from the Willow City Farmers Union Oil company in the form of an impressive cash donation and a note to use for “whatever was needed.” The credit union knew they could buy a few brand new coats with the money, so they decided to contact Rolette County Social Services, who provided them with a wish list of needed items. The credit union then filled the list which included 15 coats, 20 hats, 61 pairs of mittens/gloves, 4 scarves, and 79 pairs of socks. “If it wasn’t for the help of our mighty little town, we could not have filled that list,” said Shelly Vollmer, Branch Manager. “A well-deserved thanks to the Willow City community for their generosity! Our coat drive blossomed into something more than we could have ever expected,” she concluded.  

Meanwhile, over in Rugby, the office paired up with the Rugby Jaycees as a drop off point for the winter wear donations. Several Rugby employees took over 12 loads of coats/ mittens/hats/ and snow pants to the laundromat to washed and get ready for the giveaway. Most of the mittens/gloves were sorted and given to the Rugby Library for their mitten tree, and the remaining items were donated to the Lions Project Joy event that takes place in December. Rugby Social services provides the Lions with a list of needs within the community, then those persons are invited to come to the Project Joy event for Christmas gifts, wrapping and gift cards for the holiday season. At the same time, they are able to select any of the donated outerwear. 

The Velva office partnered with the Star City After School Care for their Winter Coat Drive. Their donations of children’s items will be given to families in the community, while the adult items were delivered to the Domestic Violence Center in Minot. The Butte office also gathered a nice collection of coats, from a very small community with very big hearts.

And finally, the Cavalier Branch put out a very large watermelon crate they received from Leevers Foods. The community filled the box with coats, hats, boots, and mittens in all sorts of sizes. After cleaning the items, the branch donated everything to the L.O.A.N organization, a group of local people who donate their time to providing clothing for community members in need. Families can call this organization, set up appointments that remain completely confidential, come in and chose several outfits, plus all the winter gear needed to keep them warm. “I’m so glad we were a part of helping our communities with such an important project, said Stephanie Murray, Loan Officer. “Let’s do it again next year!” she added.