What a nice way to volunteer.
Knitting for babies.
The University Hospital of Northern B.C. auxiliary is looking for experienced knitters this winter who would be interested in knitting baby items to be sold at the hospital gift shop.
Proceeds of all that is sold at the gift shop by hospital gift shop volunteers goes toward much needed equipment for the hospital.
Items that are most in demand at the shop are baby cardigans for up to six months old in pastel colours like pink and baby blue, light green, mauve and even white. The knitting conveyors are asking please don't donate any yellow cardigans because the colour reflects onto the baby's face and makes them look jaundiced.
People are also really loving the thumbless mittens for newborns so they don't scratch their little faces. Booties are also popular items.
Doreen Wilkins and Janet Wheeldon are the volunteer knitting conveyors for the hospital auxiliary.
Wilkins started knitting for the hospital in 2011, a year after she retired from teaching and since then the number of knitting volunteers have dwindled from 10 to five and those five are still trying to keep up with demand that 10 people were meeting in days gone by.
Wheeldon started knitting for the gift shop six years ago.
Each lady volunteers at least twice a week at the gift shop and then spends many more hours knitting at home. Since the program started in 2011 there have been 14,402 volunteer knitting hours logged. That is 600 days of round-the-clock knitting.
"When I read about what the hospital auxiliary does and all the good work, it inspired me to start volunteering here," Wilkins said. "It's important to serve and I like meeting with the public."
Wheeldon started when a neighbour invited her and she started by delivering flowers to patients but the pace wasn't fast enough and she quickly found her way to the gift shop where there's always lots to do because it's so busy.
The local hospital auxiliary has become so well known for their wares it's now a destination for shoppers, especially at this time of year when unique Christmas items are already on the shelves, Wheeldon said.
"We always get awesome comments from visitors about the selection we have here and that's largely due to our wonderful gift shop managers," she added. "Doreen donates thousands of hours to knitting. She must be really fast because she brings lots of items into the store for sale."
But they need to have more stock to meet the demand and right now it's diminished.
"Janet gracefully took over making mittens and some toques and now she makes lap blankets for those who are in Jubilee Lodge," Wilkins said.
"Any amount of knitting people can do would be welcome," Wheeldon added.
Ideally, knitters would be experienced, non-smokers who could create a high quality product to sell in the gift shop. More rustically knitted items or items that require laundering before they're sold will be donated to the hospital auxiliary thrift shop, Wilkins explained.
Donations of wool are also welcome and specifically those soft yarns in pastel colours suitable for baby clothes.
To become a volunteer knitter for the auxiliary or a gift shop volunteer leave a message at the Gift Shop for Doreen Wilkins or Janet Wheeldon at 250-565-2231.
