By Fischer Genau DIGITAL MEDIA LEAD
Daniel Benavides had never seen snow before traveling to Big Sky on an exchange visa from Bogota, Columbia, and with the weather getting colder this winter, he found himself in need of a warm coat. Benavides, who works at Rainbow Ranch Lodge as a cook on a year-long visa, picked one up at the Free Winter Coat event at The Wilson Hotel on Wednesday with some of his coworkers. He told EBS that he plans to wear it while trying to ski for the first time at Big Sky Resort.
“It’s awesome for people who can’t afford jackets,” Benavides said about the event. He said he doesn’t have a car of his own, so traveling into Bozeman for more affordable winter gear is difficult.
“I love Big Sky, I love Montana,” Benavides said. “In Columbia, we have beautiful places, but the mountains here, it’s another planet here.”
Rose deButts, the brokerage coordinator for The Big Sky Real Estate Co., was there to help kick off the event, which ran from 1 to 6 p.m. and featured over 200 donated, lightly worn coats which were collected by BASE and cleaned for free by Persnickety Cleaners.
“We have a lot of people who travel from out of the country, and the accessibility to warm coats is slim to none,” deButts told EBS. “If there’s a need, we want to provide, and it’s a great opportunity for everyone to clean out their closets.”
The coat drive was a collaboration between multiple community entities. The remaining coats will be available at Big Sky Thrift.
