DEKYAS NEWS World Breaking News and Trusted Source
Related Articles
It takes sewing machines, scissors and a group of friends to keep Threads of Hope running.
The volunteer group, which uses the sewing skills of its members to make items for those in need, is based out of St. Saviour’s Anglican Church in Winnipeg. It has now taken seven years of collecting and creating.
“It’s primarily a group of people who have come together and want to help those in need and bring love, kindness and support,” said Cindy Bell, the founder of Threads of Hope.
She said she was building houses in Mexico when a woman needed help sewing dresses for children in Africa, which gave her an idea.
“She didn’t get much help. And I said, ‘I can help you’ and ‘I have friends who can help you.’ So we started talking, and it was almost as if God had opened the door and I stepped in.”
Bell said the sewing group started with about five people but has now grown to a group of about 80 people, with 20 to 25 people regularly coming in to lend a hand.
“It takes a team to make this possible. And it was so worth it,” she said.
Receive the latest national news
For news affecting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts sent directly to you as they happen.
Together, Threads of Hope has sewn and even knitted more than 22 thousand items in 70 different categories and sizes, and for international use.
“Through our conversations with people, and reading the articles in the newspaper and on the news, we have served a variety of people around the world,” she said.
“(We’ve) helped people in the orphanages in Africa, and in Guatemala, and in Mexico. These are the most important three that we help (internationally). But we have also provided pouches and critter beds for the animals injured in the bushfires in Australia.”
Bell says items have also been made and sent to northern Manitoba, as well as to numerous community organizations in Winnipeg that are distributing them to those in need.
“It’s just a whole network of things,” she said.
Threads of Hope is also about managing the environment.
Bell said the materials come from supporting fabric stores, as well as items that would otherwise have ended up in landfills.
“We have evolved so much that we no longer have any waste at all. We can use just about any type of fabric, and any leftover fabric is then cut up and we fill our dog beds with it,” she said.
They are a very versatile sewing group, she said, willing to make whatever is needed.
“The only limiting factor is that the materials are stored in my basement, so I regularly run out of space. But it’s really nice to be able to use all these fabrics, which may have ended up in a landfill, to make beautiful projects.”
Bell said Threads of Hope relies on donations and grants to do its work, and so far it has not disappointed.
“We are fully funded by charities and occasionally we can benefit from a grant. It’s actually amazing how many items we’ve been able to produce based on charity. Winnipeg is an incredibly generous city with many dedicated people. “I am proud to live here,” she said.
Anyone who wants to know more about the group, in which people with or without sewing experience participate, can go online at threadsofhope-stsaviours.ca.
© 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
Daisy Woelk
Source link
