RANKIN INLET
Maani Ulujuk Ilinniarvik (MUI) Grade 12 student Augatnaaq Eccles, 17, continued this winter with a warm tradition her sister, Tagalik, started the previous year in Rankin Inlet.

Tati ConnellyClark, 13, left, Augatnaaq Eccles, 17, and Parker Faulkner, 13, worked to help make winter a little warmer for many kids in Rankin Inlet this past month. - Darrell Greer/NNSL photo

Eccles organized a usedclothing drive to help make the winter months a lot warmer for many kids in the community.

She enlisted the aid of Grade 8 students Tati ConnellyClark, 13, and Parker Faulkner, 13, to keep what they hope will become an annual holiday-season tradition going in Rankin.

After Eccles graduates from MUI in 2017 and moves on with her academic endeavours -as her sister did before her - ConnellyClark and Faulkner plan to take on the project.

Eccles said she watched her sister do the drive in 2015, and felt it was a worthwhile project that needed to be carried on in Rankin.

She said you often see a lot of kids, and some youths and adults, wearing only sweaters or thin jackets around town when it's 30C and she wanted to help.

"I really didn't think we'd get the donations for the drive we did," said Eccles.

"We got so many calls and Facebook messages from people with clothes for us to pick up, and so many others dropped them off to us.

"It was just crazy, the number of donations, so I was really excited about that.

"The community really came through for us in a big way."

The three teenagers gave out the clothes at the community hall on Dec. 15.

It didn't take long for the items to disappear, with almost all of them gone in just under two hours.

Eccles said they came to the hall, got everything set up and then went on local radio to announce they were ready.

She said a couple of early birds had been waiting for a while for the doors to open, and people just kept coming in behind them.

"I couldn't guess how many items we went through but a lot of people went straight to the windpants, all of our boots were gone really quickly and the parkas we had went fast too.

"I'm so happy these two girls (ConnellyClark and Faulkner) are going to be doing this again next year.

"It's a really good thing to do for the community because there's always people who need warm jackets and windpants here, because it can be so freezing here during the winter.

"It's mostly kids' stuff people look for when they come, and it's nice to know you've done something to help keep kids warm during winter."