Daily BrewHalifax ‘coats on a pole’ inspires similar projects globally
Halifax lampposts have recently been adored with cozy jackets, mitts and scarves, in an attempt to bring complimentary layers to less fortunate people.
Tara Atkins, a 27-year-old who lives in Caledonia, N.S., started the initiative after doing something similar during a weekend visit with her husband to Ontario last year.
“We packed one suitcase with spare jackets that we no longer needed and passed them out in London to people who looked cold, whether homeless or not,” she told Yahoo Canada News in an email exchange from her home where she runs a daycare centre. “This year we decided we wanted to do something similar, on a larger scale and closer to home.”
For her daughter’s birthday, Atkins decided to rally up the children who were attending a party to help distribute the layers. The warm winter items, like mitten, jackets and scarves were donated by people in the community, who dropped off loads of clothes at Atkins’ home.
En route to her child’s party in Halifax, Atkins, her husband, some friends and seven little girls, aged six to 10, went to town decorating lampposts with the warm jackets stuffed with gloves, scarves, hats or socks in the pockets. A note was attached to each zipper that read: "I am not lost! If you are stuck out in the cold, please take me to keep warm!“
“It’s not necessarily just about homelessness but about anyone in need in general,” she says. “We always try to reach out to as many groups as we can, especially during the holidays.”
Atkins’ co-ordinated efforts have since gone viral, with the story — dubbed “coats on a pole” — being picked up worldwide. It’s even inspired similar initiatives in Sunderland, England as well as Huntington, West Virginia.
“We never, ever expected this to be noticed by more than a few Haligonians, and people who needed these (items),” says Atkins. “If it spreads farther and wider, we just hope it inspires more people to help wherever they can.”
Wrapping poles with scarves is a trend that has taken over cities. Last winter, a teenaged soccer team in Spokane, Wash., knitted about 300 scarves for the homeless and draped them over the iconic Bloomsday runner statues in Riverfront Park with notes that read: “I’m not lost. If you are cold, I’m yours. I was made for you to take.”
In Edmonton, a group of knitters yarn-bombed their community “with a cause,” wrapping scarves around parking meters.
