West Kings District Women’s Institute members - from left, Thelma Miles, Carolyn Newman, Susan Johnson, Thelma Huntley, Kim Lipscomb, Eleanor Benjamin and Anne Drummond - combined their energy and sewing talents November 20 to benefit cancer patients.
N.Kelly
Sewing up a storm
W.I. volunteers gather odds and ends, come up with cancer care comforts
BY NANCY KELLY
Kings County Register
The sewing machines were humming at the South Berwick Community Hall November 20, as West Kings District Women’s Institute members met to assemble accessories for cancer patients.
Members from Women’s Institutes in South Berwick, Burlington, Weston, Cambridge and Lakeville took part in the gathering, at which donated yarn and fabric was transformed into toe socks, summer and winter turbans, chemotherapy hats and comfort pillows and drain bag covers for post-masectomy patients.
District president Kim Lipscomb explained local WI members meet regularly to work at a variety of projects. She noted their work November 20 got a considerable boost with the donation of sewing machines: one from the now-closed Fairfield School in Wolfville and an additional two from individuals in Kentville and Greenwood.
“It really speeds up the process when we can have more than one sewing machine going at a time.”
Lipscomb also offered a special thanks to Frenchy’s for donating fabrics.
Burlington WI member Eleanor Benjamin said the group contacted Annapolis Valley Health’s Cancer Patient Navigator for suggestions about making items that would assist people undergoing cancer treatments, adding “we are always looking for new ways to help.”
The group will meet again at the South Berwick hall January 29 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. for another project session. Lipscomb says anyone who would like to help out is welcome to attend. Sewing or hand-work skills are not required.
“We are always in need of extra hands to sort and cut fabric, so please come along.”
