Ruth Montague didn’t set out to form a non-profit. She just saw kids in need and took action.
She’s a grandmother of 7 who currently works two jobs – as a paraprofessional at Roosevelt Elementary School and a school bus monitor in the West Bloomfield School District.
STARTING SMALL
Ruth Montague loves kids.
She used to run a day care center in her basement for years. But during the freezing winter months here in Michigan, she started noticing that too many of the kids’ coat hooks were empty.
“Some of the kids were showing up to daycare with just a sweater on, without a coat. And then I just branched out to stores and picked up on-sale items. I started my own clothes closet in my basement. And when the kids came in without, I sent them home with,” said Montague.
Her whole family pitched in buying coats.
Friends and neighbors started helping.
And then businesses made donations.
It just snowballed.
Her ‘coat closet’ became a huge annual coat drive!
And the effort evolved into the non-profit organization Thankful Hearts.
Now the exercise room in her home is full of boxes from floor-to-ceiling.
All of them are filled with new winter coats.
She stopped running her day care two years ago. So, her basement now serves as a sorting and storage area for more new coats -- even donated toys!
GIVING MORE THAN JUST COATS
"She's just very passionate about helping people,” said Andrea Perteet, friend and fellow Thankful Hearts board member.
Perteet used to drop her kids off at Ruth’s day care. She remembers when Ruth reached out to her.
"She has helped my children with coats, but more importantly when my personal life had changed very drastically, she was really there to support me through that. So, it's more than just dropping my kids off and helping with the coat drive. She has become family and a role model,” explained Perteet.
Andrea later joined in to help with the coat drive and watched as their passion turned into the non-profit Thankful Hearts -- complete with an annual banquet where qualified low-income kids receive more than just new winter coats. They get a party!
"We give them a hot meal. We give them entertainment. We give them stockings with candy in it. We decorate the hall like a winter wonderland,” said Ruth. “Because some of these kids, it's the only Christmas they're going to get,” she added softly.
Her son James Gonzales serves as the annual emcee.
“It's a blessing just to see the smiles and the tears and the excitement -- not just from the kids but from the parents as well,” said James.
He remembers the first year they gave out 50 coats.
Last year, they delivered 700 coats!
Even some parents received one.
OUTGROWING THEIR HOME
“Our big need is monetary, and storage. The biggest need is storage. We really need storage,” said Ruth sitting in her packed basement surrounded by piles of children’s coats.
Thankful Hearts has outgrown her house.
The organization needs a place to work out of -- where people can sign up to get a coat for their children.
That way Thankful Hearts can grow beyond her basement dream and give hundreds more kids the coats they need.
That’s why Ruth Montague is this week’s Detroit 2020 Person of the Week.
KNOW A CHILD WHO NEEDS A WINTER COAT?
Ruth’s non-profit is taking applications now for this year’s coat giveaway banquet in December.
To register, please call Thankful Hearts at (248)563-3191 from 6:00-8:00pm Monday through Friday.
The deadline to apply is October 31, 2017.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
Ruth Montague’s coat drive has literally outgrown her house. If you know of somebody who can donate storage or office space or a warehouse to Thankful Hearts, please email Alicia Smith at amith@wxyz.com.
Thank you!
