Yahoo Movies 'A nice warm hug': Volunteers craft quilts for Ukrainian newcomers fleeing the war at home
For the East Coast Quilt Co., a volunteer effort that began as way to use up leftover fabric is now providing a touch of warmth and comfort for Ukrainians who have been displaced from their homes and families.
The St. John's-based business East Coast Quilt Co. has been providing the workspace and their customers have been volunteering their time and sewing services to make quilts for newcomers to Newfoundland and Labrador.
"Making quilts is what we love best, giving them to people that truly appreciate them and will enjoy them is the other joy that we feel," Debbie Northover, co-owner of the East Coast Quilt Co., told CBC News on Wednesday.
The project began more than a year ago, before Russia invaded Ukraine, as a way to use fabric that would otherwise have gone to a landfill, with the company asking people to donate a strip of leftover backing fabric. Volunteer Colleen McConnell designed a pattern quilters could easily follow.
Fourteen quilts have been made so far, and volunteers are still collecting fabric for the quilts, which are now being given to Ukrainian newcomers to Newfoundland and Labrador fleeing the war in their home country.
"We are really just welcoming them to Canada with a nice warm hug," said McConnell.
Thirty to forty different pairs of helping hands have pitched in, with eight to 10 people taking about 30 hours to make one quilt, which the store estimates are worth about $800 apiece.
On Wednesday, a representative from the Association For New Canadians and two newcomers from Ukraine accepted the quilts for the Ukrainian community in St. John's.
Ukrainian Natalya Boyko, who arrived in St. John's with her family in June, thanked the Quilt Co. for their "warmth and warm welcome."
"I cannot express my feelings, I just want to thank you so much for helping our community," she said.
