Crutchfield Coat Drive

More than 200 coats, hats, scarves, and gloves were donated in November to refugees recently arrived in Charlottesville, thanks to the efforts of Tommy Kinstle and his colleagues at Crutchfield. Kinstle (above, with IRC Executive Director Harriet Kuhr) is a buyer with Crutchfield, the national catalog and Internet electronics retailer based in Charlottesville, and he has organized an annual coat drive for the past four years. This is the first time the IRC was selected as the Crutchfield coat drive recipient. The warm gear was made available immediately to all recently arrived refugees through the IRC resettlement shop. Refugees are able to select free clothes, household goods, and personal supplies from the shop, which is located at the same downtown site where refugee clients meet with their case workers and attend English, employment, and life skills classes.