Follow the path down a windy Route 550, inside Buffalo Run United Methodist Church and down the stairs of the fluorescent-lit basement, to find the answer to the harsh winter weather -- coats. Free coats, that is.

Buffalo Run, 1438 Buffalo Run Road, on the outskirts of Bellefonte, is holding its fourth annual coat mission, where anyone who needs a coat is welcome to take one.

"We turn nobody away," volunteer Bernice Ammerman said.

Every Saturday through the end of December, jackets, hats and mittens will be given away at the church from 9 a.m. to noon. Roxanne Hockenberry, a member of the church, had the idea for the program three years ago when she was cleaning out her closet and did not want to throw anything away. She asked the church about holding a coat drive, Reverend Robert Ludrowsky said.

"I was enthusiastically interested in it, and so was the council," Ludrowsky said.

Members of the church and the community donate the coats. Ludrowsky estimated that about 500 winter items pass through, and the drive is growing every year.

"That's a pretty good-sized venture," he said.

Donations come from all over, and the coats reach families in Pennsylvania as far away as Jersey Shore, Lamar and Philipsburg.

"It has become regional as well as local," he said.

Other local churches are participating as well. The Free Methodist Church, 848 N. Science Park Road, has been giving away coats for five years and keeps its drive operating until the end of February, but this is the first time it is working in conjunction with Buffalo Run. Free Methodist receives a higher turnout of college students, church secretary Valerie Gerber said.

"Foreign students who do not realize how harsh winters in State College are come in a lot," she said.

The churches trade coats to make finding the right size more convenient for the recipients. Last year a family at Free Methodist needed an XXX-large jacket but could not find any that were large enough, so Hockenberry dropped off coats that members of Buffalo Run donated.

"They said it was like Christmas," she said.

The volunteers said they can tell how happy people are when they pick out a coat or another winter item.

"Some people reach for their wallets because they cannot believe that they are free," Hockenberry said.

The church encourages students to come in because of the frugal lifestyle that can exist during college.

"I spent a lot of time in college, and I know that sometimes it is a macaroni-and-cheese type of existence," Ludrowsky said.

Hockenberry added that students might find a style that suits them.

"Some are into dressing funky, and some of these coats are funky," she said.

The volunteers put a high priority on making recipients feel comfortable. Sometimes a patronizing attitude comes along with working for charity, but Buffalo Run tries to preclude that way of thinking, Ludrowsky said.

"Folks are treated as folks instead of people who need coats," he explained.

Although there are plenty of donations, children's coats are the hardest to keep in stock because children are more active and wear through them quicker, Ludrowsky said.

Gerber also noticed the magnitude of the importance of the drive at Free Methodist.

"There is a big need here," she said. "I didn't realize how big it was until it started."