Established in 1996 by Denny Kuhnhausen, Coats For Kids was created to help provide warm coats to children in Clallam County working in conjunction with county school resource offices. Since its inception it has held fundraising events like Elks races and Bingo at the Sequim Elks Lodge, as well as receiving donations from various organizations and Elk members.

But the need for the program has grown over the years. Coats for Kids announced they’ve recently obtained tax exempt status as a 501(c)(3), allowing the organization to apply for more grants.

The new status also allows people the ability to deduct donations on their taxes.

Obtaining nonprofit status has opened new doors for the organization already: Coats for Kids was recently chosen as a recipient of a ”Community First Saturday” in September, as Angeles Millwork and Hartnagel Building Supply will contribute a percentage of retails sales to the nonprofit.

The board is also expanding the program to include additional local merchants for redeeming the voucher certificates. Currently, Coast for Kids certificates may only be redeemed at Walmart. By including other merchants, organization members hope to make it easier for families to redeem the certificates.

For more information about the Coats For Kids program, email to sequim cfk96@yahoo.com.