Returning the favor with Coats of Kindness

Eric Wenzel still gets teary-eyed when he recalls the outpouring of love and concern he received from friends, family and even strangers during his two-year battle with cancer.

Now it's his turn to give back.

Two years ago, Wenzel started Coats of Kindness, gathering new and gently used coats, snow pants, hats and gloves, and giving them to people in need. That has helped make the holidays a little bit merrier for people such as Aimee Conery, a Cottage Grove mother who is trying to raise five kids on a school bus driver's salary.

"This is awesome and just in time," said Conery, who recently stopped in at Stone Soup in St. Paul Park to pick up a bright pink coat for her 11-year-old daughter, Victoria, and a Columbia ski jacket for her eldest, Anneliese, 15, at no cost. "This is a Christmas blessing."

With the motto "Warming Our Community," Wenzel and his wife, Karen, founded Coats of Kindness last year and collected 450 coats. Now the effort is gaining momentum and has a goal of collecting 10,000 coats for children and adults this year. Their ultimate goal is to grow it into a holiday campaign on the same level as Toys for Tots.

"I've always had it in the back of my mind to do something big," said Wenzel, 40, who has regained his health. "It's an easy thing to do, and the impact is enormous."

It's already spread to an Iowa elementary school, which heard about the campaign and sent 400 coats to Wenzel's financial planning service office in Cottage Grove. His family and an army of volunteers have painted scores of blue donation boxes and placed them at more than a dozen retailers throughout the metro area, including Fury Motors in Lake Elmo and Warners' Stellian locations.

Seeds for the drive were planted in 2008 when Wenzel was diagnosed with colon cancer. Doctors at the Mayo Clinic told him he had two months to live and that there was no hope for a cure. Doctors told him to go home and get his affairs in order.

"We told them we are not leaving," said Karen Wenzel, who said the news devastated their family of six.

Eventually, Eric underwent chemotherapy to shrink a giant tumor that was causing back pain. He lost 90 pounds in six weeks. In February 2010, doctors agreed to try a risky 30-hour surgery that had only been done 48 times. Half of those patients died, Eric said.

But Eric survived, and he began an arduous rehabilitation regimen. That limited the amount of time he was able to work at the financial services company he runs. Friends, family members and others in the community brought food and pitched in to run errands and shuttle kids to and from school and events.

"Those were dark, horrible days," Eric said. "It was humbling to go through and see how everybody helped."

"To put a coat on a kid that does not have one, that is pretty cool. I never dreamed that so many kids don't have a coat," Karen Wenzel said. "What a great way to make an impact."

It had a huge impact on Conery, who was able to provide for her daughters. She had put two coats on layaway at a department store but had no idea if or when she'd ever be able to come up with the $130 to pay for them. Coats of Kindness was able to meet her need.

"My daughters were thrilled," Conery said. "When you are trying to make the rent to keep the landlord away and keep the lights on, everything counts.

"It's humbling to be in this position," she said.

Tim Harlow • 651-925-5039 Twitter: @timstrib