Cabela's coat drive proves bountiful for CAPWN

Cabela's employees from the 6th Avenue downtown location arrived at the Community Action Partnership of Western Nebraska office bearing coats, boots, gloves and plenty of smiles on Wednesday.

About 251 coats were donated this year through Cabela's annual coat drive. That number doesn't include the hats, gloves, boots and other clothing in the load.

Cabela's is the only company that donates their collected coats to the organization, said Brenda Dickinson, Sidney CAPWN facilitator. She said these coats help meet the needs of many low-income families and individuals in counties throughout the Southern Panhandle, including Cheyenne, Kimball and Deuel.

According to Angela Graves, a Cabela's employee who helps coordinate the coat drive each year, the company started their coat drive in 2011.

"We'd already developed a relationship with (CAPWN) through our Angel Tree project, which started in 2008," Graves said. "We knew she (Dickinson) worked with a lot of area youth and families and that the coats stay in the Nebraska Panhandle region."

"I don't think people see how much of a need there is for it," she added.

CAPWN is a valuable resource to many area families and individuals with low incomes. Though Dickinson is the only employee running the office, she does get help from volunteers within the community. In fact, some people are so grateful for the help they've received that they come back to help volunteer with Dickinson.

"A lot of people who access services like to give back," Dickinson said. "There's a lot of people in the community who just have a heart for the work, and they come in and help too."

CAPWN provides rent and utility assistance, a food pantry and case management. Dickinson helps people look for work, teaches them how to make resumes and helps them apply for LEAP (Low-Income Energy Assistance Program) and food stamps.

She strives to help people help themselves.

"We don't want to give a hand-out," she said. "We're trying to give a hand-up."

Dickinson said there is always a need for donations at CAPWN. She is working on setting up a Community Closet, where people in need can get dishes, linens, small household appliances, baby items, diapers, hygiene products, toiletries, toilet paper, paper towels, dish soap and anything one would use to set up house. Food donations are especially needed.

"We have people that are starting over and they have nothing," she said.

CAPWN not only provides assistance to low-income families. On Monday nights from 6 to 8 p.m. kids in the Team Outreach Program meet up to learn life skills, have some dinner, play games, make crafts and do community projects. This free resource is open to any youth aged 13 to 18.

Project Everlast, another teen program, is geared to provide resources, connections and support to young adults as they age out of foster care.

Dickinson said she loves this work, and that youth is her forte. Before working with CAPWN, she owned a second-hand store in Chappell called El Shaddai's Helping Hand, which she operated to help people in need.

"I guess it's just a matter of the heart," she said. "It's challenging, sometimes a bit stressful, but that's what I do."

To find out more information about assistance programs, or to donate, call the CAPWN office at (308) 254-5856. The office is open to the public every Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.