Warm Hands, Warm Hearts

The Cause

As winter drags on and temperatures drop way down, your risk of cold-related injury like frostbite can go way up. Literally, think of it as the freezing of the tissues; this happens more often than you think. The most vulnerable areas of frostbite are your nose, ears, fingers, and toes.
Our 288 volunteers will work to create warm hands for those in need, and in turn, give the volunteers a warm heart for feeling purposeful and knowing they are helping their fellow citizens. Our goal is to make 700 pairs of mittens in all sizes and give them to schools, shelters, churches, and other organizations that are in need. Mittens are proven to be warmer than gloves and of course better for making snowballs and forts.
"Initially [with] the milder forms, you can get some pain and some numbness of the tips, but the skin can change its color," Dr. Kakar of Mayo Clinic says. "It can be red. It can be white. Or it can be blue. And you can get these blisters on your hands. And it can be a very serious injury." The worst cases, the tissue can die, and you may need surgery to remove it.
So who's most at risk? Those most at risk are certain patients with diabetes, patients who have previous history of frostbite are prone to it, the elderly or your very young children, and also, when you are dehydrated. With over 200 homeless people in Lethbridge alone, plus low-income families and children with lost mittens, we have our work cut out for us but our goal is achievable.

Who Will it Benefit?

This project, like most of our work, is two-fold.
1. The volunteers who make the projects we decide on learn new skills, work together building social skills, and gain a feeling of community by helping those in need. Many volunteers are longing for a project to fill their time but do not know where to start or what to do. Others, have been creating a long time and have no one left to give creations to. By volunteering with us, they can do what they love to do - knit, sew, crochet or quilt.

2. The organizations that receive the finished projects will benefit by seeing their clients have a better life. It is challenging to live on the streets, or walk to school in the winter. Warm hands can help make their life a little bit easier. Serving clients in need can be financially taxing and by us giving them mittens, it relieves stress from their budgets.

3. The clients that receive the mittens will be warm handed and their hearts will warm knowing someone cares about them.