The knitters have been busy all year making toques, mittens and socks to send to needy children in Romania. Now the collection bins are out for donations of knitted items or purchased ones, including undergarments, for children of all ages.
“About half the items are hand-knit and half are purchased and we appreciate them all,” said Howie Anhorn of the Okanagan Gleaners Society which arranges for the clothing to be sent where it is needed.
There are 17 collection barrels around the Vernon area, most in churches with one at The Schubert Centre. Last year the Okanagan Valley produced 24,000 pieces of clothing. The last day for the collection is Nov. 27 so that the items can be distributed by Christmas.
Okanagan Gleaners is made up of Christian volunteers who gather, process and package produce from local farmers into soup mix in two processing plants, one in Oliver and one in Vernon. The soup mix is shipped to relief organizations around the world.
“We do this for the fact that there is food going to waste here and there are people starving on the other side of the world,” said Anhorn.
Volunteers are needed now to work in the plant as there is a lot of produce. For more information call Eileen at 250-545-1672.
The Gleaners Society has a used furniture store to help with the costs of the food processing plant. Donations of used furniture can be delivered to the store at 4405-29th St., Vernon. Call the store at 250-549-1123 for hours or to have furniture picked up. This store is the only means of support for the food plant other than donations.
The Gleaners Society also collects unused medical equipment which is shipped by relief organizations and sends thousands of packages of donated seeds each year, this year to greenhouse projects in Kenya and Nicaragua.
For more information about the Okanagan Gleaners Society programs or to donate yarn for knitting, call Anhorn at 250-549-1632.
