by Ashlyn Gerbaz

The Colorado Mesa University (CMU) hockey team held their third annual children’s coat drive during their games on Jan. 20 and Jan. 21.

The event was started three years ago by Becky Winegard, an elementary teacher in DeBeque and CMU’s hockey coach, Tim Winegard’s, wife. Becky Winegard was teaching at Clifton Elementary, at the time, when she realized there was a high demand for children’s coats in Mesa County schools.

“I kept seeing kids coming to school in the middle of winter without any clothes on really, and I realized this was a major problem,” Winegard said. “So I went to Tim [Winegard] and said ‘is there anything we can do?’ Tim very graciously said, ‘let’s do this as a partnership.’”

The first year, the hockey team collected 75 coats. “It was wonderful,” Tim Winegard said, “We were able to give a home to every one of those coats.”

The second year of the event was an even bigger success. “I set a really lofty goal for myself of 125 coats, thinking that was pretty reasonable,” Becky Winegard said. “And the community came out, we had 250 coats.”

There were more than enough coats that year. Every student at Clifton Elementary was able to have one, with extras to spare. The remaining coats were donated to Rocky Mountain Elementary.

This year the event was opened up to the seven most impacted schools in Mesa County. Becky Winegard said, “There was no requirement for participation on the school’s part, but they could if they wished to. A lot of schools donated time, money, resources, kids, and all sorts of it.”

The goal for this year’s coat drive was 300 coats. With 40-50 coats going to each school for donation.

“Last year I had a fourth grader come to me and say, ‘Mrs. Winegard, can I please be a part of this?… I was one of those kids that you gave a coat to last year, and I know how special it made me feel. My coat still fits, so I need to make sure someone feels as good as I do.’”

“Kids without coats don’t play at recess, which means they’re missing out on exercise, social engagement and the joy of being a kid. They also have higher rates of being sick when they don’t have that [coat], which impacts their schooling,” Winegard said.

The players on the team also make sure kids in the community stay warm in the winter. Captain Chase Engdahl and Assistant Captain Tony Falcon donated a coat to the drive in 2016.

People who came to the games with a children’s coat to donate had the five dollar entry fee waived both Friday and Saturday, as well as the games during Feb. 10 and 11. It is believed that the coat drive collected enough coats for each student in Mesa County to have one if they need.