Cape Bretoners knit for The Salvation Army

Icy roads aren’t enough to keep Cape Bretoners from helping out their communities. Despite the weekend’s bad weather conditions, about 40 knitters gathered at McConnell Library for the KnitFit Community Knit-a-thon on Saturday, Feb. 25. Items produced in the Knit-a-thon were donated to The Salvation Army’s “Clothe-a-Family” program in Sydney.

“It was a great afternoon,” says co-organizer Chris Thomson of Cape Breton Regional Library Programmes. “Even though the roads were really icy, we still had a lot of people come out, we were happy about that.”

Once the Knit-a-thon wrapped up, approximately 410 items were collected for donation to The Salvation Army. As Thomson explains, knitted items, yarn and needles are donated for the Knit-a-thon at library branches throughout the year.

“Sponsors from the craft community provide door prizes,” says Thomson. “There are lots of people who are willing to put their time into doing this for families in need in our community, and who really just have fun getting together and knitting.”

The donations were received by local Corps Officers Captain Phyllis Vega and Major Glenda Roode (pictured above). Captain Felipe Vega of Sydney Community Ministries says the donation is the biggest he’s seen, apart from during the busy Christmas season.

“These are things like hats, mittens and scarves for children. It’s good because they go through these things pretty quickly,” says Captain Vega. “But the real hidden positive, is that the community is getting involved in helping the community. That’s always a positive thing.”