Having already amassed around 100 parkas and overcoats by Monday, not to mention numerous beanies and gloves - she has even been offered a sleeping bag - things are going well for the woman who single-handedly started the appeal, with some help from husband David, on the strength of devastation she saw in Pakistan following the October 8 earthquake.

"What has been happening is that people are not calling with an offer to donate one parka, they're canvassing their friends and donating six or seven parkas," Mrs Ritson.

Not only has she been impressed by the willingness of the local community to donate their old and/or outgrown parkas to some of the three-million left shelterless in Pakistan, but also by the willingness of people around the shire to help her collect them and co-ordinate the appeal.

Ingrid Gaynor, who is promoting the campaign in Moss Vale, especially through the local primary school; Maria Monger, who works for Wingecarribee Community Health and is promoting it at the local hospital; and Bundanoon resident Angela Leech, have all volunteered to help Mrs Ritson collect and co-ordinate for the Parkas for Pakistan appeal.