It's been 18 years since Warm and Cozy Children's Charity founder Phyllis Stanley has been providing new clothing for needy school children across North Simcoe.
Her charity started with one child whose feet were bleeding in the snow because she was wearing summer shoes that were three sizes too small and she didn't have a winter coat.
"It started with one child, then it was seven, then it was 14. For five or six years, it was just the Victoria Harbour school, then it grew."
Stanley, 77, who lives near Waubaushene, is now clothing 1,000 children in 14 schools from Honey Harbour to Lafontaine through her registered charity.
"Within the last 12 months, the numbers have at least doubled. To me, that is frightening. I said to my husband 'I'm frightened for the first time in all these years because we've never said no.'"
Last year, Stanley raised $67,000. With that Stanley purchased and stored clothing until the bagging event where volunteers packed and distributed 70 extra-large bags full of clothing to hundreds of children at 14 Catholic, public, elementary and secondary schools.
This August, they packed up and distributed 200 bags for 1,000 children.
Children in need become known to Stanley through their teachers who notice which students lack proper clothing. Stanley collects the name of the teacher, the gender and sizes of the child. Bags of clothing are distributed privately to each child in need.
One of the schools receiving clothes is Mundy's Bay Elementary School in Midland, which has approximately 700 students.
"We probably clothe 40 to 50 per cent of those children," said Stanley.
She's added Georgian Bay District Secondary School that has a student population of approximately 1,200.
"We are clothing at least 400 of them," said Stanley.
At Sacred Heart Catholic School in Midland, Warm and Cozy has clothed entire families. One day, the school notified Stanley that the single mother of a couple of children, she clothed, was walking her children to school in slippers in the winter and then walking to a job.
"I went down and got her and completely wardrobed her. I had her like a mountain climber with the best of everything. It turns out she had double pneumonia," said Stanley.
Stanley has also added the Rosewood Shelter to the list of places where she supplies clothing and she donates clothing to adults in need generally.
“The need here is so huge and we are getting these emergency phone calls,” she said.
For all her volunteer work, Stanley received the June Callwood Outstanding Achievement Award in 2021 and the Sovereign's Medal for Volunteers in 2019.
Nadine Woods, owner of The Port McNicoll Barbershop has been volunteering with Warm and Cozy for the past two years.
“The best thing about Phyllis is she does it selflessly. She does it for the cause. She does it for the people," said Woods.
Anytime there is a fundraiser or work needed to be done for the charity, people come out in "droves" because Stanley is so well known and has such a good reputation for her work, said Woods.
“She's remarkable. She’s a guiding light. Without her putting this together, it wouldn’t happen," Woods said.
Stanley said, “The whole goal has always been to help every single child to feel equal to their peers because they start school at 3 (or 4) years of age and a lot of them are born into circumstances that you and I can’t even imagine.”
At the local high school, Stanley works with a couple of teachers who have basically set up a department store in the school.
“These needy teens, we are trying to make them feel equal, so if they need shoes or whatever they can go in,” she said.
Stanley was born and raised in Ireland after the Second World War. She said everyone was poor and wore second-hand clothing. The first new dress she had was her wedding dress, when she married Brian Stanley 58 years ago.
The couple have known suffering too. Their house burned down five years ago and her family members nearly died. The community rallied around them. They now live in a new house. One of their children was badly burned and has had more than 40 surgeries.
Kandice Jones, owner of Jones Image Hair Salon in Port McNicoll is running a raffle for Warm and Cozy with the goal of raising $2,000. Tickets are $20. For a ticket contact Jones through Messenger or text (705) 542-1059. The prize is a large basket of high-end personal care products.
Anyone interested in making a donation and receiving a tax receipt, can do so through CanadaHelps site.
For more information, visit the Warm and Cozy Facebook page or call Stanley at (705) 529-9866.
