Arthur Plitt, left, is joined by Pawtucket Library maintenance workers Sonya Shepard and Tom Crum, who is holding a donated coat Thursday afternoon in the lobby of the library — one of 10 drop-off sites around the city for the Warm-A-Heart coat drive. Plitt is president of the Neighborhood Alliance of Pawtucket.   Times Photo/Butch Adams

By DONNA KENNY KIRWAN

While the day after Thanksgiving is the unofficial start of the Christmas shopping season, a number of activists and citizens will spend that Friday taking part in the 12th annual Buy Nothing Day.

As part of the event, sponsors hold a winter coat exchange at several locations throughout the state, including  Woonsocket, Pawtucket and downtown Providence.
On Nov. 28, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., the Buy Nothing Day Winter Coat Exchange will be held at the St. Ann’s Arts and Cultural Center, 84 Cumberland St., Woonsocket, and at the Blackstone Valley Visitors Center, 175 Main St., Pawtucket.
Other locations include the Statehouse lawn, St. Paul’s Church, at 12 West Marlborough St., Newport, and at St. Francis Church, 114 High St., Wakefield.
Sponsors say, “If you have a coat to give, please drop it off. If you need a coat, please pick one up.”
Arthur Plitt, of the Neighborhood Alliance of Pawtucket, said that volunteers have set up nine locations around the city and one in East Providence in a month-long effort to collect coats and jackets for the coat exchange at the Visitors Center.
Plitt said the Neighborhood Alliance has taken part in the coat drive for the past few years, typically collecting so many garments that they have leftovers to donate to the Providence effort and to other organizations.
“We generally have some very generous neighbors, “ Plitt said, noting that some 500 coats have been collected already. He added that a dozen collection bins are also set up at Brown University, where the school’s lacrosse team and computer laboratories have been spearheading the campus effort.
Plitt said collection bins are set up at the following locations: Pawtucket City Hall (mayor’s office), Bristol County Savings Bank, East Side Eden, Home and Hospice Care, St. Paul’s Church, Oak Hill Rehabilitation Center, the Pawtucket Library, and Chestnut Terrace at 100 Wampanoag Trail in East Providence.
According to a press release from Greg Gerritt, Buy Nothing Day originated in Vancouver, Canada, and has turned into something of a global phenomenon.
He said that thousands of activists and concerned citizens in 65 countries take part in what is described as a “24-hour consumer detox.” In Rhode Island, there are more than 60 cosponsors of the event, including community organizations, places of worship, civic, environmental and peace groups.
Proponents say the reasons for participating in Buy Nothing Day are as varied as the people who choose to get involved. Some see it as an escape from the “marketing mind games” and “frantic consumer binge” that has come to characterize the holiday season, and modern culture in general. Others use it to expose the environmental and ethical consequences of over-consumption, according to s press release from the organization.
According to Gerritt, tough times mean the demand for donated coats is certain to be high this year. The main coat exchange event takes place in Providence on Nov. 28, which turns into “a big street fair,” Gerritt said. However, for those who cannot make it on that day, coats can also be dropped off in Pawtucket throughout the month of November.
Gerritt also said that volunteers are needed at all five sites. To volunteer in Woonsocket, call Roger Bonin at 728-8328; to volunteer in Pawtucket, call Arthur Plitt at 724-8915.