Cole’s Corner restaurant donates nearly 200 children’s coats

LEAVENWORTH – The Squirrel Tree had over 170 coats to give away during its kid’s coat drive on Dec. 20. 

The owner of the Squirrel Tree Resort, Vito Fedor, said his wife Olena was looking at coats in Costco when she got the idea for a coat drive.

“My wife was like “hey, why don't you donate these coats?” First it was gonna be a donation, and then we were like, “no, let’s do it at the Squirrel Tree,’” said Fedor.

They bought 170 brand new coats, sizes 2T - 6. About 17 additional coats had also been donated by locals earlier in the day.

“Some people have been coming in for the coat drive and some people have been donating [money] to the little red cup which will be donated to Plain Pantry,” said Fedor.

The coat drive was held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. By the afternoon, Fedor had already given away around 60 coats. 

“Oh, people love it. They come in, you know, there's people with four kids. They're like, “let's pick up jackets!” They are loving it,” said Fedor. 

Seattle residents and regular visitors, Maâde Seddiki and his 9 year-old-son Talan Seddiki, were excited to stumble upon the coat drive.

“We come here all the time. We have friends that live here that have a cabin and this is our first time coming in wintertime. Usually it’s summertime when we come here, and we were really surprised with how much snow there was,” said Maâde Seddiki. 

They came in looking for winter accessories such as gloves, but were pleasantly surprised to find Fedor giving away children’s coats inside.

“I’m really happy, it’s really cool,” said Talan Seddiki. 

Fedor expected more donations to come in by the end of the day, and more coat pickups once school got out. Any coats leftover he planned to donate to Plain Pantry.

Plain Pantry is open Wednesdays from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. and Thursdays from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. Its Pantry Porch stocks seasonal clothing, household items, and more for those in need. Plain Pantry is located at 12471 Chapel Drive in the mobile home (next door to Plain Community Church), according to their website.

Taylor Caldwell: 509-433-7276 or taylor@ward.media