Last night I spoke with Knit Fit founder and program coordinator, Laura Mah. On Monday afternoon, Laura headed to White Rock Elementary to talk about how we can work together to make a difference in the lives of many. Ten year old, Katie Dalinghaus and her class spent the afternoon knitting scarves for Knit Fit. Several parents were on hand to help the kids knit the scarves that we will be handing out on December 14th and on Christmas Eve.
While she and Jenny Tran embarked on the process of wrapping 300 hand made scarves, I asked Laura to fill me in on how many people have been involved in the Knit Fit portion of our annual Xmas Stocking Drive.
This morning, Jenna sent the following update to post:
Knit Fit has been busy getting out the word for why Knit Fit was established. In the past 2 weeks, Knit Fit has already visited 3 different schools to teach students how to knit and show them the importance of giving back. So far, Knit Fit has met Lord Beaconsfield Elementary, Lord Strathcona Elementary, and Chief Maquinna Elementary.
At Lord Beaconsfield, Knit Fit spoke with 2 different classes, and again will be visiting Wednesday to teach the kids how to knit.
At Lord Strathcona, Knit Fit organized a club for students who were interested in knitting. These meeting are held each Monday at lunch. At these meeting students will come together and knit, while enjoying their lunches and having good conversation.
At Chief Maquinna, Knit Fit attended their Peace Concert held in respect for Remembrance Day. Here Knit Fit talked about the background of Knit Fit in front of the Maquinna neighbourhood community, while also sharing some personal stories of how Knit Fit has affected them.
When I did the math, I realized Knit Fit is actively involving hundreds of kids, youth, parents and teachers. When you combine those volunteer efforts with the volunteers that have been sewing and decorating the 600 Xmas stockings, we have a community effort that not only impacts the Beauty Night Society participants who receive the warm scarves and stockings, it also affects all of the people who contributed their time, energy, skills and money to make this project happen.
When I was interviewed by Telus Television last Monday, I was asked how many volunteers do we have and what the demographic of our volunteers are. I realized we have thousands of volunteers. Some who work directly with our participants. Others who constantly fundraise and create events to raise awareness and contributions so we can continue to provide tools for disenfranchised women and children to make positive life style choices and heal themselves and the community. Many who mentor the children in our community who teach them leadership and how they can impact someone’s life with their actions. The children and youth who believe if we give from our hearts, we can heal the world. When all of us work together, we change lives.
In regards to working together, it is important to recognize that we learn things from everyone. Through laughter and love, we can combine the leadership development and contributions to change the world. When women wrap the warm scarves around their neck or when their eyes light up as they open up the stocking decorated especially for them, I believe it does the human spirit a great deal of good.
