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Students sew up storm for charity

A large box in the St. Albert Catholic High School’s food and fashion class has been slowly filling up with hand-made mittens, toques, scarves and blankets for people in need, thanks to a creative idea from teacher Christine Sampson.

A large box in the St. Albert Catholic High School’s food and fashion class has been slowly filling up with hand-made mittens, toques, scarves and blankets for people in need, thanks to a creative idea from teacher Christine Sampson.

“I just thought it would be a nice thing to help people in the community,” Sampson said.

When she approached her students, who were scheduled to make accessories as part of the class, they were all in favour of sewing items for the less fortunate.

After an ad ran in the school newsletter, Sampson said fabric donations began pouring in from the community.

“The response was overwhelming, it was amazing. I had people, parents dropping off bags of fabric, I had staff throughout the division sending us fabric,” she said.

She estimates her fashion 10 and fashion 20 classes have made around 75 pairs of polar fleece mittens to date and students aren’t finished yet.

“It’s a way to give back to the community,” said student Christina Lowe, when asked why she wanted to help out.

All of the items will be donated to the Edmonton Emergency Relief Service Society’s Blanket Alberta in Warmth campaign next month.

The organization, which also serves St. Albert, has set up donation boxes around Edmonton and is hoping to collect 5,000 blankets.

“The kids, they’ve made more than I even thought they would. They see that there is a cause and they’re getting behind it,” Sampson noted.

“I was calling it ‘pay it forward’ because we received such generosity from the community and now we’re passing it on. It’s kind of neat how it all worked,” she said.

Sampson said she will definitely get involved with the Blanket Alberta in Warmth campaign next year and may even start a little earlier.

“I’m very proud of the students and the work that they’ve done,” she said.

“It speaks to our faith that we’re helping others less fortunate and it gives them an opportunity to reach out to the community and live their faith.”

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