Sewing and fundraising keep ladies of Wildpine busy

(Beryle (left) and Denise (right) are raising funds to support the Stittsville Food Bank with their creation of original handmade items – available at Wildpine Retirement Residence and The Little Red Spade.)

Their lives are filled with visions of, and surrounded by, tote bags, gift bags of all sizes and aprons. Two energetic seamstresses, Beryle and Denise, who reside at Wildpine Retirement Residence, have been sewing and selling non-stop to raise funds for the Stittsville Food Bank.

The ladies wanted to give back to the community. Knowing the need was great at the Stittsville Food Bank, they both came up with the idea to use their sewing talents and raise funds to help keep the shelves stocked. Every Wednesday, Beryle and Denise can be found at the Wildpine Tuck Shop selling their wares.

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Due to COVID-19 restrictions at Wildpine, their sales base is limited, so the business-minded ladies are offering two avenues to purchase their lovingly handmade items. You can call Wildpine Residence at 613-831-8111 to place an order and it can be picked up in a COVID friendly manner from the residence. The ladies are ‘pretty excited’ that Lorette at The Little Red Spade has also come on board to sell their sewn with love items, with the total of all proceeds going to the Stittsville Food Bank.

Beryle said, “we have been having a difficult time getting fabric, especially with no fabric shop here in Stittsville or nearby. My daughter has been bringing fabric to us from Brockville to make our totes and bags.”

Denise piped in, “It would be nice if people in the community would donate fabric or provide us with a bit of money to purchase more. Because of COVID we would like to receive new fabric only”.

Beryle and Denise use some of the proceeds from their sales to purchase new fabric and pay for the balance out of their own funds. To date, they have proudly donated $200 to the Stittsville Food Bank and said “more will be donated to good causes”.

Their very reasonably priced tote bags and aprons have proven to be very popular, having sold 90 gift bags and 25 aprons to date. Their friends at the residence, families and staff have been extremely supportive of their new fundraising venture and the ladies are very grateful for this.

The tote bags are unique in design – they can be adapted to fit on a walker, wheelchair, baby stroller or even a bike! Beryle and Denise have definitely thought of every purposeful use for their tote bags. Beryle said, “I’m always looking for new ideas on my computer for additional items that Denise and I can sew to raise more funds”.

With the holiday season on our doorstep, they have now introduced to their collection Christmas themed gift bags for wine and other sized gifts.

Do support these two endearing ladies who are helping the Stittsville Food Bank and those in need with every homemade apron, tote or gift bag sold.