Annual Community Coat Exchange
The Annual Community Coat Exchange promotes principles of community and re-using the day after Thanksgiving.
Every year people all over the United States spend the day after Thanksgiving 
kicking off the holiday season by taking advantage of the many opportunities offered by retail outlets. The 11th Annual Community Coat Exchange provides an opportunity for people to reflect on their own shopping habits as well as provides a service to the community.
The Community Coat Exchange is a collection and distribution of winter coats and other winter clothing items. The event is held every year the day after Thanksgiving between 10am and 1pm. This year’s event is being held at Pioneer Park, 400 South, 300 West.
Deanna Taylor, co-founder of the event, reflects about past coat exchange events: “This event is brings the whole community together. We have schools participating, businesses and community organizations. The coat exchange has become an annual event that people look forward to. ” Taylor adds that there is no prediction about how many coats are received and given away. “It varies from year to year. Some years we have had upwards of 700 coats and other years as few as 200.”
Several locations around the country have organized Coat Exchanges besides Utah’s events, in Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Oregon.
Coats can be dropped off before Thanksgiving or brought 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 low income people and also sells clothes and other goods in its retail shop to the general public to help fund the Crossroads Urban Center programs.
Information: 801-403-0121 or 801-502-1991; coatexchange@blueskyinstitute.org; http://www.coatexchange.org