This Christmas, your school can put new winter coats on children, youth and adults in Nunavut's Inuit communities.
A campaign of the Knights of Columbus, Council 1388 in Toronto, delivered with North of 60, a project of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul.
Each box holds 12 new winter coats and costs $360. For every box you sponsor, the Knights of Columbus add a second one. That brings the cost to $15 a coat.
No road leads to the Nunavut communities that North of 60 serves. Everything arrives by plane or by ship, and the farther north a community sits, the more its families pay for food, goods and housing.
Paid work is scarce. A hamlet may have one general store with two checkouts, a health centre, a school and an airstrip. Many Inuit families work every day to provide the basics, and a winter coat is one of them.
The opportunity to let them know we care, we're here for them.
The Knights' program began as Coats for Kids. This campaign goes further. Boxes are packed by size and by gender, so every age group in a community can be outfitted.
The sea routes to Nunavut close in September and reopen in May. So the coats are gathered at Christmas and sail in the spring.
Students, families and donors raise funds in the Christmas spirit. Every $360 sponsors a box of 12 coats.
The Knights of Columbus match every sponsored box. A school that wants to keep collecting after Christmas can.
The routes reopen. North of 60 loads the coats into sea containers and they travel north by ship.
North of 60's Ontario teams support these Nunavut communities. The number beside each is its population.
On December 13, 2025, the Montreal regional delegation of the Order of Malta delivered 150 coats of various sizes to the Brothers of Saint Gabriel in the Ahuntsic neighbourhood of Montreal. The Brothers distributed them to people in need during Advent, a season of preparation, solidarity and charity.
The donation was made possible by the financial involvement of the Canadian Association of the Order of Malta in the Knights of Columbus Coats for Kids program, and by the generosity and coordination of Mr. François Helou, under the leadership of the Montreal regional delegate, Mr. Charles Cloutier.
Run the campaign at your school this Advent, or sponsor boxes as a family or a business. Contact Knights of Columbus, Council 1388, in Toronto.
For questions: François Helou
francoishelou@me.com
Pegg Leroux leads North of 60 for the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul. She can present to your students about its work with Inuit communities.
