By Joel van der Veen

DAVIDSON — No child should go cold in Davidson and district this winter.

That’s the idea behind the Coats for Kids program, a co-operative effort between the local council of the Knights of Columbus and the Davidson Inter-Church Association (DICA).

The program has been in operation in Canada and the U.S. for close to a decade, but this is the first year it has reached Davidson.

Larry Packet, who is organizing the local effort for Knights of Columbus Council 5384, said about two dozen coats were purchased for distribution in this district.

Across the province, he said, councils are distributing upwards of 2,000 coats to children.

“The Knights of Columbus do not want to see any child cold this winter,” Packet explained.

The Coats for Kids program, which began in 2009, is operated by councils in both the U.S. and Canada.

Last year, 1,780 councils distributed a total of 87,906 coats to children in both countries. Almost 400,000 coats have been distributed in the last eight years.

Packet said the local council had previously tried to reach out to contacts here, but without success.

More recently, they got in contact with DICA, knowing that the association already oversees the Christmas Gift Card Project.

“We figured they would be the best liaison between us and the kids receiving them,” said Packet. “They know who may be in need.”