Handmade winter clothes donated to Winnipeg kids in need

About 800 handmade toques, mitts and socks are being donated to Winnipeg kids in need.

The Winnipeg Art Gallery's Crafted Show and Sale did a donation drive for the warm-weather items in advance of their craft sale earlier this month.

Now, the items are being donated to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Winnipeg to keep kids and youth warm over the winter.

"All of our programming is free for all kids and a lot of our kids in the community can really benefit from some solid winter-wear to keep them warm," said Stephen Day, the manager of the Sister MacNamara Club on Sargent Avenue.

"We will have kids coming in without hats and without mitts sometimes so I'm really glad we were able to provide some of this through this wonderful donation to hopefully let them have a bit warmer winter."

Kids at the Sister MacNamara Club got first pick of the handmade knitwear on Monday. The remaining items will be distributed at clubs across the city.

"It was really amazing to see a community to pull together to make all these beautiful things," said Day.

Every year, CRAFTED donates handmade goods to a different cause.

"[It] ensures the handmade becomes the 'hand-given.' I think this one in particular is kind of cool," said Yoko Chapman, part of the Crafted committee at the WAG."We did end up getting a lot of great contributors and local wool and craft shops helped support us."

Last year, they collected more than 200 handmade quilts and pillowcases for children receiving cancer treatment.