It takes sewing machines, a pair of scissors, and a group of friends to keep Threads of Hope going.
The volunteer group, which uses the sewing skills of its members to create items for those in need, runs out of Winnipeg’s St. Saviour’s Anglican Church. It’s going on seven years of gathering and creating now.
“It primarily is a group of people that have come together wanting to help those in need and wanting to bring love and kindness and support,” said Cindy Bell, the founder of Threads of Hope.
She said she had been building houses in Mexico when a woman needed help sewing dresses for children in Africa, sparking an idea in her.
“She didn’t have much help. And I said, ‘I can help you,’ and ‘I have friends that can help you.’ So we got to talking, and it was almost like God had opened the door and I stepped through.”
Bell said the sewing group started off with about five people, but has now been stitched into a group of about 80, with 20 to 25 people coming in to lend a hand regularly.
“It takes a team to make this happen. And it’s been so rewarding,” she said.
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Together, Threads of Hope has sewed, and even knitted, over 22,000 items across 70 different categories and sizes, and for international use.
“Throughout our conversations with people, and from reading the articles in the paper and on the news, we’ve come to service a variety of folks worldwide,” she said.
“(We’ve) helped people in the orphanages in Africa, and in Guatemala, and in Mexico. Those are the primary three that that we help out (internationally). But, we’ve also provided marsupial pouches and critter beds for the animals that were injured in the forest fires in Australia.”
Bell says items have also been made and sent to northern Manitoba, as well as numerous community organizations in Winnipeg who distribute them to those in need.
“It’s just a whole networking of things,” she said.
Threads of Hope is also about stewarding the environment.
Bell said its materials come from supporting fabric stores, but also items that would have otherwise made their way into landfills.
“We’ve evolved to have no waste at all. We can use pretty much every single type of fabric, and all of the leftover fabric is then cut up into scraps, and we stuff our dog beds with them,” she said.
They are quite the versatile sewing group, she said, willing to make anything there is a need for.
“The only limiting factor, is (the materials are) stored in my basement, so I routinely run out of room. But it’s very pleasing to be able to use all of these fabrics that might have ended up in a landfill to create beautiful projects from them.”
Bell said Threads of Hope relies on donations and grants to do its work, and so far, it hasn’t been disappointed.
“We are covered completely by charity, and on occasion we’ll be able to access a grant. It actually is quite astounding the amount of items that we’ve been able to produce based on charity. Winnipeg is an incredibly generous city with lots of dedicated people. I’m proud to live here,” she said.
Anyone who wants to know more about the group, which takes people with or without sewing experience, can go online at threadsofhope-stsaviours.ca.
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