BEDFORD – The Bedford First Church of God held their first ever Coats & Cocoa event Saturday morning, giving members of the community the opportunity to come by and get free coats, gloves and winter hats for their family.
All of the items that were available for community members to search through and take home, were collected by the members of the church over a six week period.
Lead Associate Pastor of Bedford First Church of God, Chase Standefer, said helping the community is what this event is all about.
“I think anything we can do to help the community and offer something for someone in need is important. We usually do a back to school event where we give out backpacks and supplies, and felt adding this type of event is another way we can help those who truly need it most,” said Standefer.
Lead Pastor of the Bedford First Church of God, Travis Inman, was impressed with the turnout of volunteers for the event and to see their work come together.
“One of the biggest takeaways from this event is the volunteers. They worked extremely hard in helping to put this event together and it is a great way to see how much the community means to each and every one of them.”
Children in attendance were also able to visit with Santa Claus and have their photo taken for free with a polaroid camera.
This is the first year that the Bedford First Church of God has provided this service for the community, and will be used as a way to determine how they can help the community on a better note.
“This being the first year in doing this type of event brings the question of if we are doing enough, are we meeting the need and if not, then what is the need that is out there,” Standefer said. “We have enough items for up to 200 people and today’s event will be a guide on how we look at this in the future and for the years to come.”
The hope for this event was to bring the community together and offer additional services to those in need of assistance, to better equip them for the winter months.
