Black Friday's Also 'Buy Nothing Day' In RI

NEWPORT, RI—Some of the best Black Friday deals in Rhode Island are sitting in racks on the Statehouse lawn and in churches and YMCA's around the state. Thanks to the Buy Nothing Day Coat Drive, the price is absolutely free. People can take a coat, a hat, a scarf and a pair of gloves for themselves, outfit the whole family, and give the articles a second life. Greg Gerritt started the tradition more than 20 years ago. He's stepped away now, but Lauren Testoni, of East Greenwich, her mother Pam Testoni and other volunteers are keeping it going.

"My mom and I took over three years ago," Lauren Testoni said. She was out working the day before Thanksgiving to pick up more donated items. They filled a 26-foot truck with jackets, coats, and more. She estimated thousands of coats would be given away. They're looking for donations for next year, too, she said.

The West Bay YMCA in North Kingstown and St. Paul's United Methodist Church in Newport are among the many distribution sites statewide, she said. In Newport, a steady stream of people came away with bundles of clothes and happy smiles.

Testoni has volunteered with the coat drive for about eight years. Her mother was a volunteer, and Testoni followed in her footsteps mostly out of curiosity. Then she got hooked.

"My mother would leave the house at 8 a.m." the day after Thanksgiving, she said. She wanted to find out where she was going all day.

"I thought it was a small operation," she said and was astonished when she saw the number of people who came by for a coat.

"We get a lot of really beautiful designer coats," she said, so the donations are no "bottom of the barrel coats sitting in my Grandma's closet for years." Plus, her mother, a retired East Greenwich school teacher, provides the personal shopper expertise. She tries to find a coat that fits the person's style and personality. Some people need attire that's appropriate for a job interview, she said, while others primarily want to stay warm.

"The sad part is we do always have a line," she said. Most of the clients are the "working poor," she said. But the demographic does change. Last year, for example, they saw some refugee families.

The success stories are the people who needed a coat in the past, got back on their feet financially and now come back to volunteer, she said.

Kim Donald, manager of the West Bay YMCA in North Kingstown, said they received about 50 or 60 coats this year. People bring the whole family to shop and try on the garments. They have ski jackets, hats, gloves and scarves.

According to Kristina Saunders, who runs the coat drive at the Y, anything not taken will be donated. Last year, they gave the extras to the Quidnesset Church's Hope Closet, she said.

Testoni said the coat drive is always looking for donations. For information, go to the website, ricoatexchange.org, she said.

Caption: Sign outside St. Paul United Methodist in Newport. Credit: Margo Sullivan/Patch Staff

Cover Photo Caption: In Newport, a steady stream of people came away with bundles of clothes and happy smiles. Here are two who stopped to talk to Patch. Credit: Margo Sullivan/Patch Staff