Warm gesture: Winter coats pop up on Halifax lamp posts

CTV Atlantic: Winter coats appear in Halifax Winter jackets began appearing in odd places in Halifax on Sunday. CTV's Sarah Ritchie has the details.

Some Good Samaritans are working to ensure Haligonians have warm clothes for the winter.

A group of family and friends in Caledonia, N.S. have been collecting donations of winter jackets, hats, mittens and scarves for a few weeks.

On Sunday, seven-year-old Jayda Atkins and her friends made the almost two-hour journey to Halifax. They handed out winter clothing to seven people and placed the rest of the items on light posts around the city.

Each article of clothing has a tag that reads: “I am not lost. If you are stuck out in the cold, please take me to keep warm.”

“We went with the intent to give clothing to anyone who we saw who may need warm winter clothing, and we also hung the remainder of it on light poles and power poles,” says Jayda’s mother, Tara Atkins. “We just wanted to put it out there that there’s always help to be found. I don’t want anybody to feel hopeless.”

“We’ve had help from others when we were in need and we knew how great it made us feel,” says her husband, Zachary Atkins.

People in Caledonia were quick to donate to the cause, but Tara says there wasn’t as much need in the rural community, so they brought the donations to Halifax.

“We were going yesterday with a group of young girls who don’t always know how fortunate they are,” she says. “We thought it was a really good opportunity for them.”

While the coats are there for the taking, Tara says she’s not worried that they could have been picked up by anyone.

“If somebody comes along and takes those jackets out there, they need them,” she says. “I’m not just saying it has to be homeless people, you know, someone who may work may need that jacket and not be able to afford it.”

It seems the jackets have found their way into the right hands; all the light poles were bare by Monday afternoon.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Sarah Ritchie