Desiree DeCoste
Beaver Staff
For the past five years The Knitting Elves have been supplying Christmas hampers with mittens, hats, scarves and gift cards through the Tamworth District Lions Club.
The Knitting Elves, started by Brenda Mayhew in 2017, now have around 15 knitters who donate their time and efforts.
“Sometimes I sell the items I make and with the money from what I make from them, the proceeds go towards buying $20 gift cards to put in the Lions Christmas baskets for the teenagers and the adults,” expressed Mayhew. “I have maybe 15 knitters and beyond supplying to the hampers, which every year they seem to have more hampers and if there are five people in the family we try to supply for the five people, but we also supply mittens and hats to three schools. We give them 10-12 pairs just in case a child comes to school without a hat or mitts.”
The group are raising funds and promoting initiatives to serve people who need them the most.
“I started in 2017 and so far we’ve raised about $14,000 for the Lions and we use to give them all the money but now, because of COVID I wasn’t really meeting with the Lions,” Mayhew stated. “Last year I bought close to $2,000 worth of gift cards and one of the Lions comes to my residence and we make up bags for each hamper and we know how many gift cards we need for each bag.”
Mayhew explained why she donates her efforts to the Tamworth Lions Club when she now lives in Napanee.
“The reason I do this for the Tamworth Lions Club is because when we left Burlington we moved to Tamworth and we were on Beaver Lake,” said Mayhew to The Beaver. “My husband was a Lion with the Burlington Lions and then he transferred to Tamworth Lions and we just moved down here to Napanee a year ago October so he has not transferred to Napanee, he’s staying with the Tamworth Lions. He’s been a Lion since 1992 and he really enjoys the Tamworth Lions because they do a lot of community things.”
The Knitting Elves are always on the lookout for more knitters/crocheters as well as any yarn donations people may have.
“It’s really anything knitted, crocheted or anything made with yarn,” Mayhew said. “But my knitter numbers are going down because some of them were elderly and can’t knit anymore so I’m hoping to get some new knitters and get some more yarn donations because my yarn donations are not coming in like they usually do either.”
For more information or to donate visit https://www.theknittingelves.org/ or email knittingelves@gmail.com or call 613-354-9906.