MIDDLEBURY — Each year on two November weekends people have been coming to the Middlebury United Methodist Church to find clothes to keep warm in the winter. This year’s opening hours will be Friday, Nov. 6, 2-5 p.m. and Saturday, Nov. 7, 10 a.m.-1 p.m., and the same hours on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 13 and 14. Coats, sweaters, scarves, hats, boots, and more for children, women, and men will be ready for this event, now in its seventh year.
It is good to see the smiles on people’s faces when they find things that please them. Hundreds of people are served. Sometimes recipients of clothes come back to say thank you and tell how much this means to them.
Because of COVID-19 this year the procedure will be different in order to follow the state’s protocols concerning people gathering indoors. MASKS WILL BE REQUIRED, and each person’s temperature will be taken at the door. The number of people admitted at a time will be limited. The time allowed for anyone to search for clothes will be 15 minutes. Please pass the word along to anyone who can benefit from this. 
This is a free event.
Many of the ways that clothes were collected for this project in past years were not available this year because of COVID-19. However, when a request for clothing donations went out to other area churches the response was outstanding. We will be able to offer nearly as much as in other years. Much volunteer time is necessary to make this project work. Thanks go to all the volunteers from the Middlebury United Methodist Church and others who come to help. Thanksgiving will have more meaning for some people who are warmer now with the winter clothes they need.