Organizers pleased with Burridge mitten tree project

“We had a large variety of everything come through,” said Holly Muise, a member of Burridge’s medical office assistant class, which organized the effort.

Donated items included mittens (hence the name of the project), hats, scarves, gloves and jackets.

The tree was set up Nov. 14 and donations were accepted over a period of about three weeks.

The material would then be distributed throughout the tri-county region to places like day-care centres, food banks and the like.

“Anywhere it’s needed, basically,” Muise said, referring to where the items would go.

This year’s initiative generated more than twice the volume of donations compared to 2007, when the mitten tree project was launched.

Commenting on the campaign last week, Muise said she and others associated with the project were pleased to see people respond the way they did.

“We were really happy with (the project),” she said.

The mitten tree – so named because donated items, including mittens, are used to decorate it – also was referred to this year as the tree of hope, an apparent reference to the wish on the part of campaign organizers to make the Christmas season a little brighter for those who perhaps could use some help.

As Muise put it in an earlier interview about the project, “It lets people realize that there are people out there who are less fortunate. We just want to make sure everybody’s nice and warm.”

Support for the initiative came from both within the college and from the community at large, she said last week.

The plan is to make the mitten tree project an annual event.

The tree was set up in the Burridge library.

Last year the tree was located in the cafeteria.