By Tammye McDuff
Orvella Phillips is the Compassion Pastor at The Lord’s Church in the city of Bellflower. She has been helping those in need for 25 years. Wednesday morning, the church opened their doors for the annual Clothes Closet Coats 4 Kids program.
The Bellflower Unified School District [BUSD] has joined with Caring Connections and The Lord’s Church to ensure that every child has a warm winter coat. Renett Banagas, Community Services Coordinator for BUSD stated,” The program originally began as an outreach of BUSD to the children in their schools, however we found the need was so great we opened it up to the families and now we serve the entire community.”
For more than ten years Coats 4 Kids has been donating to those in need. This year more than 650 coats were collected to warm over 100 people in the community. Held once a year during the first week of December, anyone can come to the Clothes Closet located at 9701 Flower St. Bellflower, one of the first churches ever built in the city, and choose up to six coats for free. As a special bonus the Los Angeles Quilting Guild donates newly made quilts, pillow cases, scarfs and hand knitted caps for the program.
Phillips told HMG-CN the Clothes Closet actually began 15 years ago as a small outreach. A church member wanted to help children in need. The BUSD was contacted to find families that may not have the funds to supply winter clothing. Soon after Caring Connections contacted the church and Coats 4 Kids went in to full swing
Lord’s Church LA was established in 1950 in Southern California and it moved in 1966 to the city of Bellflower, CA. Pastors Orvel and Carolyn Phillips strive to reach the area with a pioneering spirit to support each and every resident. Lord’s Church LA reaches out with numerous citywide outreach programs, most recently the Bellflower Thanksgiving Dinner which began over 20 years ago, a Christmas & Easter Drama production which began in the early 1970’s, and many more.
To donate gently used items contact the Bellflower Unified School District at 562.866.9011 or Caring Connections at (562) 866-9011
