Everybody deserves a coat, especially in Minnesota. The selflessness nature that I admire.
By: Calvin Duddingston
Tags: Helping, Student, Goodreads, Helpingothers

In a northern climate, we require some protection against the elements. Minnesota is no different, it becomes quite cold and one can imagine that whenever winter rolls around, you’re going to want to bundle up. It is important to have necessary apparel like gloves, hats and a coat. The coat likely being the more important piece as a pair of gloves and a hat won’t do anyone any favors without the aid of a coat.

Knowing this truth, less fortunate people might not have adequate access to a coat that can properly fight off the Minnesota elements. That is why many coat drives and nonprofits are active in colder regions to help people stay warm and to support local communities. Saint Paul and Minneapolis are no exception, multiple non profits, stores and organizations are active in these parts and endeavor with concern about their communities. The goal to help those in need, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. One of particular notoriety right on West 7th near downtown Saint Paul is known as “Joseph’s Coat”, a store that takes in donations in the form of coats, clothes, toiletries and necessities that people struggling to make ends meet can acquire free of charge.

My mother Lara, a realtor with a team known as “The Odd Couple” under Keller Williams wanted to make an impact in our local community when she proposed the idea of a coat drive a couple years ago. Where the members of the team would be assigned a mile long route to tie fliers around door knobs, what was written was an indicator that if anybody had suitable coats and wanted to donate them, they could drop them off at a location or be picked up outside their door at a designated time.

The first year they did this they amassed 300~ suitable coats to be donated to Joseph’s Coat. The second year proved to be even more successful, amassing 400~ coats to be donated. The third year was quite a different one, my mother and the Odd Couple team wanted to do more. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, putting people in difficult positions in a multitude of ways, they knew they would need a lot more coats as more people would find themselves struggling. The team had newspaper ads about the drive and drop off locations. They stepped up their “door-knocking” game. Even talking with the president of a coat drive nonprofit to do a coat drive for them. They agreed and by the end of the drive, they amassed 1,600 coats in the third year.

My mother is not new to helping her community, over the last decade or so, I remember her inclusion in various school support groups involving the parents of the students to fundraise for after school programs, more support for world languages and more. She believes in going that extra mile for the greater good. She knows that there are people out there that heavily rely and benefit from these types of infrastructure, so she is always happy to help and use her time for the aid of others. My mother has done countless food drives, book drives, supplies drives and more. Helping people is something she truly believes in.

A large concept to recognize and understand is privilege. Many many people do not have access to basic necessities and often for reasons outside of their control, they are put at a disadvantage and actively must rub up against the grind instead of sliding down the smooth side like some others. This idea is what makes my mom strive to make sure that people don’t have to do the heavy lifting on their own. That they can get help when they need it. It’s this background of selflessness and charitable nature that makes me really respect her. Whether it was starting a fundraiser a decade ago for my world languages classes at my elementary school so that everyone could have better resources to learn or being a part of the more recent coat drives, her interest has always been to help others. It is probably fair to say that my mother has helped tens of thousands of people in different ways and i’m sure that somehow they benefited from her selflessness. It truly inspires me to do whatever I can do to help others.