Spring cleaning could be
SEW helpful for Indigenous programs!
The Rotary Club of Burlington North is excited to announce our support of a fabulous initiative to bring “the love of sewing” to Indigenous children in remote communities. We’ve teamed up with Art for Aid, working with I Love First Peoples, a Canadian registered charity, to empower Indigenous children and youth through some innovative and unique fabric arts programs.
In 2020, Janome Canada committed to donating 60 new sewing machines annually to support the Sew & Sew Skills Lab. To date these impressive labs have been established in Nain and Natuashish in Northern Labrador and Newfoundland.
In 2022, I Love First Peoples (ILFP) is introducing the Sew & Sew program to Pond Inlet and Igloolik in Nunavut, and to several more communities coming online as word spreads. ILFP sees that each new school is given machines, ample quality materials and sewing supplies to establish a basic sewing lab; schools with established programs are annually revisited, reassessed, and refreshed with supplies, so the programs are sustained with support.
Drop-Off Locations in Burlington:
• 373 Salem Road
• 2437 Newport Street
• 4220 Sarazen Drive, Unit 7
• Sew on Fire, 975 Fraser Drive, Units 6-7 (Mon & Tues AM only)
Sewing machines without thread and fabric are like a brush without a canvas and paint. So, we are asking for these donations of much needed new or gently used sewing supplies::
- Sewing machine needles (80/12)
- Hand-sewing needles
- Multipurpose thread
- Straight pins with glass or plastic heads
- Sewing clips
- Measuring tapes
- Small scissors, thread snips
- Fabric scissors
- Seam rippers - small
- Fabric marking chalk
- Water/air soluble marking pens and pencils
- Fabrics (cotton or cotton blends). Literally any scrap will do or any left-over pieces from kits
- Poly-fill and batting (80/20, 100% cotton)
- Furs of all sorts in good condition
Welcomed Extras:
- Tracing paper and tracing wheel
- Rotary cutters, rotary cutting mats
- Gridded rotary cutting rulers
- Steam irons
- Hand embroidery needles, threads, hoops (6" and 10")
- Portable used sewing machines in good condition (for Six Nations programs)
- Art supplied for programs offered through Art for Aid (for Northern communities – check their website for the wish list)
Note:
- Please ensure all previously loved items are clean, in good working order and complete.
- Please attach to your donation box a note with your name, phone number, mail and email addresses – so we can thank you and update you on the project.
- Monetary donations to offset shipping or supplement supplies would be appreciated. Detailed information can be found on the ILFP website re donating via Interac e-transfer, credit card or mail. For donations over $20.00 please include full name, email and mailing address for your official tax receipt.