COATS GALORE — Individuals with Urban Mission Ministries Inc. held coats to be distributed during the annual fall coat giveaway, which will take place from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday. From left are Any Duhaime, social work intern; Patti West, program chair, and Cynthia Lytle, director or programs and community development. -- Christopher Dacanay

STEUBENVILLE — With fall just getting started and winter not far away, Urban Mission Ministries Inc. will distribute clothes to keep individuals warm during frigid months to come.

The Urban Mission’s annual fall coat giveaway will take place from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday. Distribution will take place in the back half of Urban Thrift and Opportunity Center, 236 N. 7th Street.

Men, women and children need only visit the thrift store during the given times to receive coats, jackets, hats, gloves and scarves — in a variety of styles and sizes — for themselves and each individual in their families.

There are no pre-registration requirements, and family members do not need to be present to receive clothing.

For information, individuals can call the Urban Mission at (740) 282-8010.

Falling under the Urban Mission’s Neighborhood Community Development Center, the giveaway is supplied entirely by donations — “the generosity of our community,” according to Cynthia Lytle, director of programs and community development for the Mission.

A coat drive that lasted just under two months earned the Urban Mission a stockpile of coats, filling at least 10 pallet boxes and multiple garment racks between the thrift store and the mission’s warehouse, Lytle said.

Previous giveaways have been held at other mission locations, but this is the first year it’s been held at the thrift store, Lytle said, adding the location seemed the most fitting.

The giveaway’s purpose is “to make sure the community has warmth for the winter,” in the words of program chair Patti West.

West has been organizing the coat distribution for more than 25 years, taking over from Sharon Kirtdoll. This year, she’s being aided by Lytle and the Urban Mission’s social work intern, Aby Duhaime. During the event, another set of volunteers will help distribute clothes and track the items that go out.

“I hope that the kids have a lot of coats,” West said. “As an adult, you can get a coat or jacket, … but kids only get what we can give them, so I’m hoping to get more involvement (for them).”

West, who retired from the Urban Mission, has been overseeing the giveaway for years but is ready to pass the torch. She desires to teach a new generation to continue the program, which is meaningful to her.

“God’s been so good to me,” West said. “You can’t just receive blessings. … I look at me being able to give what I can.”

Lytle said similarly: “Anything we do for the Urban Mission, for us, it is a tangible representation of God’s love. We love to see that coat being wrapped (a person) as a representation of God’s love being wrapped around them.”