photo by: Nick Krug

In this file photo from December 2015, Share the Warmth coat drive volunteers Wendi Miesenheimer, of Lawrence, left, and Omolade Ogunniyi, a KU junior from Dallas, assist lookers by waiting with handfuls of their collected coats.

As a blizzard blew through the Lawrence area earlier this week, a local charity and a dry-cleaning service were getting thousands of winter coats ready to give away.

The Salvation Army of Douglas County and Scotch Cleaners on Thursday and Friday will hold the 32nd annual Scotch Share the Warmth coat giveaway, which provides a winter coat to any person in need. The event will be from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4 p.m. Thursday and 9 a.m. to noon Friday at The Salvation Army, 946 New Hampshire St.

Scott Shmalberg, president of Scotch Cleaners, said the company collected 2,118 coats to give away this year. In a little more than three decades, Scotch Cleaners has collected over 250,000 coats for drives in Lawrence and Topeka, he said.

Before the giveaway, Scotch Cleaners makes sure every coat is cleaned and ready for use.

“It’s a way for Scotch to use our employees and our services to give back to the community,” Shmalberg said.

After the coats are cleaned, they are delivered to The Salvation Army for distribution. Any coats that are not given away at the event are donated to local social service agencies, he said.

Lt. Corey Wheeler, a pastor for the local Salvation Army, said the two organizations orchestrate the event every year because it serves a need in the community that some may not notice.

“Sometimes we forget that there are people out there who don’t have coats. Sometimes coats are expensive,” she said.

Many of the people who are served by the giveaway have incomes below the poverty line, she said. Along with the coats, people are often provided with hats, scarves and gloves as well.

“We try to fulfill that need so they don’t have to spend that money on coats,” Wheeler said. “We like to help those who need it the most. We all have a need of some kind.”