15 WINTER TEXAN TIMES www.wintertexantimes.com DECEMBER 6, 2023 Supply &Hardware Mobile Home Special Orders Available Ask about our daily Manager Specials! PETECO, INC. 2911 N. Cesar Chavez Rd. San Juan, TX 78589 956-787-2847 petecotransport@gmail.com We Do Tie-Down Certification SAVE 10% OFF Your Entire Purchase When You Bring In This Ad *Conditions apply, see store for details. Offer expires March 31, 2024. TRANSPORT • Sales & Installations • Vinyl Skirting & Tie Downs • Custom Steps made of Wood & Metal • Door & Windows • Plumbing & Electric • Used Mobile Homes Sales Financing Available petecotransport@gmail.com Ph: (956) 787-2847 or (956) 787-0413 We Buy Mobile Homes 2911 N Cesar Chavez Rd. San Juan, TX 78589 Family Owned & Operated Over 30 Years I will have to admit that I rarely watch the news on our local television channels. If I listen at all it is generally to world news on British Broadcasting Company. I much prefer to read the news and re-read it to get a better understanding of what is really happening in our world. For local news, my source of information is generally our local newspapers. One of the things happening locally right now is the drive for contributions to Tim’s Coats. This is a very worthy cause. There are many needy families who could use some help in providing warm clothing for their children. Since our winters seem to be getting colder, the need for warm clothing is even more critical than it used to be. At one time – quite a few years Showing you care ago – I taught in the Harlingen Public Schools. On the coldest of days, fewer children attended classes. I wondered why – my curious mind sought the answer. We do live in an area where there are families without enough money to provide warm clothing for their family. The answer was to keep children out of schools and in bed under the covers so that they could stay warm. Even though many years have passed, this situation still exists … hopefully not to such a great extent but poverty is still around. Even though we should encourage those of us who are able to share and to give freely to those in need, the request for money to solve the need is somewhat disturbing. Let me give you a little history as to how what we now know as Tim’s Coats started. So here goes … There was a gentleman in the Upper Valley who realized there was a need. This gentleman – Bill Stocker – owned and operated Palace Cleaners, a business that was opened in 1929. Mr. Stocker’s family bought the business in 1951. Just this past year the business was closed. Bill Stocker was a man dedicated to his community. When he saw a need he found a solution. Why not recycle used coats and make them available to those children in need. That was the beginning of what we now know as Tim’s Coats. Winter Texans played a big part in contributing outgrown winter coats to Mr. Stocker’s campaign. Palace Cleaners cleaned the coats and schools, and other agencies identified the families in need. In order to get the word out to more people in need, Mr. Stocker asked the local television station for help and Tim’s Coats evolved. Writing a check and making a donation to help is admirable (which is what they now ask that you do), but how much of yourself is physically participating in the giving. Are your children or your grandkids aware of how much you care? Are they learning through your example to recycle and to be a real and vital part of giving? Or shall we continue to hold ourselves aloof and apart from the See GO WITH JO pg. 19 KRGV Channel 5’s weatherman Tim Smith is all smiles as he receives a donation of over 1,000 coats from Winter Texans at El Valle del Sol for the annual Tim’s Coats drive. (Picture from December 21, 2017. Photo by Henry Miller)
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