The Guelph Tool Library has teamed up with with The Church of St. Matthias and St. James to help supply communities in Canada's far north with sewing machines and sewing supplies.
The Sew North Project kicks off April 14. Machines in any condition, along with the supplies, will be collected, fixed up by volunteers, and then sent via Air Inuit to remote communities where sewing supplies are coveted but often scarce, said a news release announcing the initiative.
The project is part of a larger initiative, called the Inuit Outreach Project, put on by St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Norval.
The Guelph Tool Library is choosing to concentrate on sewing materials and supplies only, so that they can create a strongly focused donation pool that will be well utilized by recipients up north, where sewing supplies are often scarce, said the news release.
“The Church of Saint Matthias and St. James the Apostle co-hosted the first Guelph Repair Cafe, so the decision to partner with them on this project was an easy one. The Guelph Tool Library also hosts a weekly drop-in sewing time, so we have got a lot of members with an interest in sewing” said Steph Clarke, Tool Library Facilitator and co-project manager with John Dennis, Tool Library Coordinator.
Donation drop off will be available during the operating hours at the Guelph Tool Library, which is open Monday to Friday in the former Tytler Public School on Ontario Street. Hours can be found on the website.
Drop off will also be available at The Church of Saint Matthias and St. James the Apostle Monday to Thursday from 9:30 a.m. to noon.
George Gastle of St. Paul’s says their aims are twofold: “To provide essential items for daily living and secondly, to learn about yesterday and today’s Inuit Culture and share information about living conditions for our Northern Neighbours.”
"This was a natural collaboration between the church and the Guelph Tool Library. We have our volunteer fixers from our Repair Cafe and the church will have a need to service and tune up a number of sewing machines," John Dennis said.
For more information contact the Guelph Tool Library at [email protected] or on Facebook.