As St. Vincent de Paul collects coats to hand out this winter, one donor stands above the rest.For more than a decade, Poul Lemasters has been giving the gift of warmth during the holidays.This year, he's taking some inspiration from his pandemic hobby to bring in more money and more coats.From behind a bar, Lemasters is serving up cocktails for coats."I'm naïve in many ways and when we first did this and started you know they got more and more and I thought we're going to run out of people to give coats to and you don't because every year somebody needs a new coat," Lemasters said.Twelve years ago he started a nonprofit collecting coats.Though it's grown into quite the operation, donating 5,000 new coats to St. Vincent de Paul most recently, when it started it was just a family affair. "This started off with teaching my kids the art of giving back. We did four coats one year. Four coats. We bought new coats. Took them to St. Vincent de Paul. I wanted my kids to see what that was like," Lemasters said.And it stuck. He didn't expect the reaction one year later. "The next year my kids kinda threw it back at me and said, 'Hey are we giving more coats this year?' So do you say no? Of course you say, 'Yeah, and we're going to give a little bit more.' So it's been a great feeling because not only have we grown it within our family, it's grown bigger than us," Lemasters said.This year he's going old-fashioned with a 24-hour telethon.You can watch on his Facebook or YouTube.While he collects cash, he's serving up 50 cocktails from Saturday to Sunday night.It's a fun twist on what he's found is a real necessity for so many. "I know the demand. We get calls from schools and local organizations asking can you bring us 50 coats? 100 coats? And I'm humbled to be able to say yes we can," Lemasters said.Click here to donate.
As St. Vincent de Paul collects coats to hand out this winter, one donor stands above the rest.
For more than a decade, Poul Lemasters has been giving the gift of warmth during the holidays.
This year, he's taking some inspiration from his pandemic hobby to bring in more money and more coats.
From behind a bar, Lemasters is serving up cocktails for coats.
"I'm naïve in many ways and when we first did this and started you know they got more and more and I thought we're going to run out of people to give coats to and you don't because every year somebody needs a new coat," Lemasters said.
Twelve years ago he started a nonprofit collecting coats.
Though it's grown into quite the operation, donating 5,000 new coats to St. Vincent de Paul most recently, when it started it was just a family affair.
"This started off with teaching my kids the art of giving back. We did four coats one year. Four coats. We bought new coats. Took them to St. Vincent de Paul. I wanted my kids to see what that was like," Lemasters said.
And it stuck. He didn't expect the reaction one year later.
"The next year my kids kinda threw it back at me and said, 'Hey are we giving more coats this year?' So do you say no? Of course you say, 'Yeah, and we're going to give a little bit more.' So it's been a great feeling because not only have we grown it within our family, it's grown bigger than us," Lemasters said.
This year he's going old-fashioned with a 24-hour telethon.
You can watch on his Facebook or YouTube.
While he collects cash, he's serving up 50 cocktails from Saturday to Sunday night.
It's a fun twist on what he's found is a real necessity for so many.
"I know the demand. We get calls from schools and local organizations asking can you bring us 50 coats? 100 coats? And I'm humbled to be able to say yes we can," Lemasters said.
Click here to donate.
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