Girls just want to shop

Connie Jo Discoe/McCook Daily Gazette

Six-month-old Cyrena Smith, the daughter of Sterling and Brittney Smith of McCook, Nebraska, wears a hand-crocheted stocking cap and snuggles in a blanket donated to the 2012 "Coat Closet and Winter Clothing Give-Away." Outfitting Cyrena Wednesday afternoon in clothing warm enough for the on-coming cold Nebraska winter, Barb Ostrum -- community service coordinator of the McCook office of Community Action Partnership of Mid-Nebraska and coordinator of the Coat Closet -- had to go like 60 to keep up with the hundreds of shoppers who came to McCook's Memorial Auditorium looking for warm coats, hats and mittens. Ostrum said the majority of those who take advantage of the Coat Closet do not receive public assistance, but are then able to use the money otherwise spent on new coats on rent, utilities and/or groceries. The coat give-away continues today until 6 p.m. and Friday, from 8 a.m. until noon.