A group of hard-working students at the Bonnyville Outreach School have been working to bring a little bit of warmth and colour to the less fortunate, and this week, they will be delivering hand-sewn blankets to those who need them most at Edmonton's Bissell Centre.
The Bissell Centre has been helping eliminate poverty and homelessness in Edmonton for over 100 years, offering families and individuals in need a variety of programs and resources to support them, give them a sense of community, and help them find homes and employment.
On Nov. 20, students from the school will deliver 52 bright blankets to the centre in a variety of patterns, colours, sizes and styles. While they are at the centre, the students will also help out in the soup kitchen and the childcare facility, continuing to give back.
“It's an interesting place to go, but it's also sort of disheartening,” said teacher Kathy Wardle.
“You'll see the cardboard boxes when we go down, the ones that they sleep in, and they like when it snows because the snow comes down and insulates their walls,” she told the students, while discussing what to expect and what sort of impact they would be having on those who used the centre.
“But really, there's nothing there on the inside, so when they get the blankets, they'll have the blankets on the inside so it will actually be like a wall, just to keep them warm. It insulates them even farther. You guys are building humanity, that's what you guys are doing. Respect and dignity for everybody. Some people have a lot of things and some people don't but you guys are giving back.”
This is the eighth time students from the school have made the trip. The first time, they had made only 10 blankets and now, after only a few days of sewing, they managed 52. Their patterns have grown more complex as well.
“It's good because we get to help out people who don't really have much,” said Rebecca Poitras, a student who will be accompanying the group to Edmonton. “We can give them something.”
