Every year people all over the United States spend the day after Thanksgiving getting ready for the holiday season by patronizing retail businesses for gift buying. We perceived a need for a project for the same day that would be useful and meaningful, as well as educational, and that focuses on concerns about the ecological and psychological consequences of our consumer culture and the impact of our consumerism on society.

To that end, a new community-oriented project was born: The Community Coat Exchange. Patterned after a similar event in Rhode Island, the Coat Exchange is a collection and distribution of winter coats and other clothing items. The event is held between 10 AM and 2PM the day after Thanksgiving.

The idea is for folks to bring donations to any of the drop off centers (see right sidebar for partners and drop off centers) before Thanksgiving or to the event itself. At the event, no questions are asked: If you need a coat, come get one. If you want to exchange a coat, bring the coat you want to donate and take one in exchange. If you have a donation of coats, we know people who can use them.

Left over coats are donated to the Crossroads Urban Center Thrift Store, a project of the Crossroads Urban Center which advocates for low income and homeless people. The Crossroads Urban Center Thrift Store gives clothes away to poor people and also sells clothes and other goods in its retail shop to the general public to help fund the Crossroads Urban Center programs.