Barrie Families Unite aiming to meet 'growing need' with winter pop-up shop

BARRIE, ONT. -

A local charity that works to give back in various ways has wrapped up its second annual winter clothing pop-up shop.

Barrie Families Unite spent approximately two weeks collecting gently used winter clothing items from the community. After an outpouring of generosity, receiving everything from coats to snow pants, those items were provided free of charge to those in need.

"Cost of living is through the roof these days, and it's really, really difficult for these lower-income families to find that extra cash to properly outfit their kids for the winter that we live through here in Barrie," says Nikki Glahn, the founder and chair of Barrie Families Unite.

Glahn tells CTV News that over two days of operating outside of Bayfield Mall in Barrie this weekend, approximately 250 households came through, a need that she says has increased from its inaugural pop-up shop last year.

"It's been a mix of people coming through this year," Glahn says. "More seniors than we've seen in the past, a lot of households, a lot of single parents with small kids. Anyone who has kids knows that they grow, so from winter to winter, if you have three or four kids and you need to re-outfit hem with coats and snow pants and boots, it's expensive."

Glahn says her overall goal for the winter pop-up shops is to fill the gaps between services and support other groups offer.

"We see what they are doing, we see what the needs are, and we see where the gaps exist, and this seems to be one of them," Glahn says. "There didn't seem to be an agency out there that to a mass scale was able to provide the service of accumulating donated outerwear, organizing it, getting it set up and giving it out for free."

There are some items left over, which Glahn says will be provided free of charge to other agencies who do provide winter clothing to their clientele. If she finds the needs remain in the middle of the winter, the group will hold another clothing drive and pop-up shop.

In the meantime, Barrie Families Unite is switching gears to providing support for the upcoming holiday season. Glahn says an announcement on its specific projects will be made in the coming weeks.