Legacy of a Coat: Passing on the Warmth
One woman donates her deceased mother's clothes to charity.
Dec. 31, 2007 — -- Though more than a decade and a half have passed since Bunny Quirk's mother died, the clothes and coats she once wore remained in closets at her family's home, offering a sense of comfort that was difficult to give up.
But after hearing about "Good Morning America's" and Burlington Coat Factory's coat drive, Quirk says she knew what she had to do.
"When I heard about One Warm Coat, I thought, this is what I have been waiting for," she said.
Quirk drove more two hours from Odessa, Wash., to a Burlington Coat Factory store in Spokane, Wash., and carried her large donation to the coat drive's drop box.
Quirk's generous act continued her mother's charitable legacy.
"Mother would be the one that would say, 'Please make my donation anonymous,'" Quirk said. "They didn't expect a merit badge for anything they did."
While letting go of the items associated with her mother was difficult, Quirk said the joy the family received from watching others receive the gifts was unmatched.
"It is very difficult to give away things that belonged to family members, but there's also a reward that comes with it," said Quirk's niece, Judy Atchison.
The reward comes from people like Corissa Carbaugh, who spent the last year at the Anna Ogden Shelter in Spokane, relying on support and others' aid.
"A jacket can be just a jacket to someone, but it can also mean a lot of memories too," Carbaugh said. "Just looking at her I just saw that she just wanted to bless someone with something that was very important to her."
"One thing I will always think is, 'Why did I keep these so long when somebody else could use it?'" Quirk said. "My mother would be delighted."
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