Coats for Kids gearing up for big giveaway

By Kyle Mooty

LPR Editor

Coats for Kids was a few years into its Lockhart existence when Clint Mohle became affiliated with the event. When a pandemic threatened to shut down the great event, Mohle thought of his father. And when he saw some of the great needs of people, he wanted to show his daughters how blessed they were.

For the 35th year, Coats for Kids will take place again in Lockhart. The generosity will take place on Dec. 14 at the First Methodist Church gymnasium off West San Antonio Street beginning at 9 a.m. Mohle said the event will end at noon, or “when we run out of coats… and we’ve never run out.”

The most coats ever handed out were 250, but Mohle said due to other similar events, fewer have been handed out lately.

“We have around 140 coats right now, but we have more ordered,” Mohle said. “We can’t say ‘no’ to a family. It’s supposed to be Coats for Kids, but if we see an adult when it’s cold, we want to make sure they have a coat, too. We range from men’s XX to zip-up onesies for 0 to 6 months old. You never know what’s coming through the door.”

Originally, Mohle began working the Coats for Kids at First Christian Church in Lockhart, but it eventually outgrew that facility and is now held at First Methodist Church west on San Antonio Street.

Each Friday night before the second Saturday in December, the “Rolling of the Racks” takes place where all coats are moved down the road from First Christian to First Methodist.

Coats for Kids has been around Lockhart for 35 years, handing out about 50 coats the first year under the leadership of Mary Ann Fielder and Gail Livengood. The event took place at Plum Creek Elementary The coats which had been donated were all used.

Lockhart had gotten its idea from a large event in Austin, which began donating leftover coats to Lockhart and surrounding entities holding similar, yet smaller, events.

“I started here at First Christian Church,” Mohle said. “This was basically our ballgame, our ball of wax. We’ve asked others to help. We needed it and we needed Spanish speakers. Over the years it has outgrown our church.

“People are crying to help. I don’t know if they attend church or not. I don’t care. If they don’t have a coat, then let’s go get you a coat. We always tell them to bring your kid. Grandparents bring them, too. We don’t discriminate. If you tell us that you need a coat, we can’t say no. Sometime, we will get some people from as far away as Austin, and we tell them that they have an event.”

Coats for Kids has people sitting at the door who cut the tags off of new coats handed out because the group found out there were some people trying to return them to Walmart for cash.

Mohle said there was a time he became suspicious when a lady would bring her kids in every year for a new coat, but before he acted on his suspicion, the lady came to the event with several coats “hardly worn, to return to the Coats for Kids.

“That was great,” Mohle said. “That’s how our system works with people helping people.”

There was a place in Austin that sold coats to Coats for Kids at Black Friday prices, such as $35 for a $150 item. However, buying from a Lockhart business is first and foremost Mohle’s intention.

“My dad always said, ‘If you make your money in Lockhart, you spend your money in Lockhart,’” Mohle said. “My dad loved Lockhart. I will never be able to fill his shoes, but I’m going to keep trying.

“When they told me I couldn’t do it during Covid, all I could hear was my dad in heaven saying, ‘You know what you’re gonna have to do.’ So, we had it at the Lions Club that year but could only allow five in at a time. But we still had it.

“This is truly a mission of love by the citizens of Lockhart. I want to turn it over to somebody, but I don’t want to turn it over to just anybody.”

Mohle said the entire event only requires an October through mid-December time of operation, but noted donations are the key, whether from businesses or individuals. In fact, he specifically praised the efforts of the late George Hazelett and his wife, Bonnie.

Mohle recalled some delivering coats to a family in a shack that were huddled around a space heater, with a front window broken out of their home.

“I went and got them blankets, then went and got a plane of glass to fix their window,” Mohle said.

He also went with his daughters and a church group across the border from Los Fresnos. “I wanted my daughters to understand that the ‘third world’ was not on the other side of the world in Africa somewhere,” Mohle said.

Donations and volunteers make the giveaway possible.

“There is a lot of love and care about this town,” Mohle said. “It is amazing the love and compassion in this town.”

Anyone wishing to donate can send a check to First Christian Church, PO Box 336, Lockhart, TX 78644. Anyone interested in donating or helping at the event can call Mohle at 512-995-8757.

Mohle gave special thanks to Hector Rangel and his wife, Maria, with helping with translation over the years.

Mohle has secured additional items for those looking for coats, including crocheted beanies from the Methodist Church, and Bomba socks thanks to an agreement with that company.