SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (IRN) – It was time for social service agencies to stock up, taking their pick from $1.1 million in coats, boots, and other cold-weather gear from a state surplus warehouse in Springfield, Illinois Monday.

Some of the surplus Illinois manages is indeed sold at auction, but “what we thought for the cold weather, as funding has dried up for some of the other kinds of things the state does for its citizens, we thought the best use of this particular property would be to go to our neediest citizens,” said Malcolm Weems, director of the Department of Central Management Services.

The giveaway items in this case are from the federal government.

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