Bank gifts new coats to all students at local preschool

JACKSON, Tenn. — A coat for Christmas — that’s what some preschoolers in Jackson got today.

“Look at all these coats! 254 coats for all these children. And wait until the children come in!” organizer Anita Kay Archer said.

It was an exciting day at Washington Douglas Head Start. Each child at the school got a brand new coat, provided by The Bank of Jackson.

Mrs. Archer has organized the coat drive for the last three years.

“I had one store last week to let me go into their stock room and find extra coats,” Archer said. “I had taken all the coats they had.”

Then, she goes to the school herself to deliver them.

“When they see Mrs. Anita Kay, they are literally hugging on her like she is Mrs. Claus. We could call her the ‘Coat Lady of Christmas.’ They are so happy,” said Tiffany Woods, center coordinator for Washington Douglas Head Start.

Each student gets to pick out their own coat, and this year, they got gloves and hats too.

“When they come in and pick it out, they’re just like, ‘What? I love this!’ Every year. They put it on, they’re jumping around. They’re so excited,” Woods said. “It really does let them have security, letting them know that we do care. We care about them being warm and having a proper-sized coat for the holidays.”

Woods says whatever they have leftover, they’ll keep at the school year-round, so no one will go without a coat when it’s cold outside.

Archer said The Bank of Jackson collects the coats in November and December, but they keep a coat closet year round.