After a record-setting 2021, the Buy Nothing Coat Exchange returns in person this year to continue ensuring everyone needs a coat this winter has one.

Scheduled for the day after Thanksgiving on Friday, November 25 from 9 am¬–1 pm on the south lawn of the Rhode Island State House in Providence (across the street from the Cheesecake Factory), this year’s Coat Exchange is open to all those who’d either like to donate an item or those in need of winter gear. In case of rain, the Coat Exchange will be held at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church located at 15 Hayes St., Providence. Masks are encouraged if the event is relocated indoors.

The mission is simple: “Make sure everyone who needs a coat this winter has one.” All items are free – no questions asked – including coats, hats, gloves, mittens, scarves, and more.

Those interested in donating still have time to gather their gently-used winter gear – everything from coats, hats, and gloves to mittens, sweatshirts, and sweaters – and drop off whatever they can spare at one of the Coat Exchange’s collection sites throughout Rhode Island and Attleboro, MA. A full list of sites is available at ricoatexchange.org/sites.  Nearby Cranston locations are 109 Richard Street

Please leave donations in the tote bin on the porch. Accepting donations until November 21. Text Becka: (401) 219-2867 and Gannon & Scott: 33 Kenney Drive. Accepting donations in the reception area Tuesdays, Wednesdays, & Thursdays from 11am–2pm until November 17.Call John: (401) 463-5550.

Donors can also host their own collection site at either their home or workplace by placing a collection bin or box at the location of their choice and contacting the Coat Exchange organizers via email at ricoatdrive@gmail.com or the contact form at ricoatexchange.org to arrange for a pickup time once all donations are received. As a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit, the Coat Exchange can provide the paperwork to support tax-deductible donations as needed.

Launched more than 20 years ago by Rhode Island activist Greg Gerritt, the Coat Exchange is an extension of Buy Nothing Day, an international day of protest against consumerism that runs concurrent with Black Friday, the United States’ busiest shopping day of the year. The idea is to treat “Buy Nothing Day” as an extension of Thanksgiving, encouraging folks to give rather than spend, and repurpose rather than throw away. 

Last year’s Coat Exchange yielded the largest supply in its history and organizers hope for similar results in 2022 as the COVID-19 pandemic and housing crisis continue to affect those experiencing homelessness and financial insecurity, worsening the problem in our state as people have lost jobs, housing, and stability.

According to a report by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development in June, homelessness in Rhode Island grew by 20 percent from 2021 to 2022 and has grown by nearly 50 percent over the last four years. Statistics indicate nearly 4,000 men, women, and children experience homelessness in Rhode Island each year with further studies from KIDS COUNT, which annually surveys conditions for children, that nearly 1,500 children from kindergarten through high school in Rhode Island are considered homeless.