by Danielle Nicastri
A THIRD, large shipment of knitted items left Frenchs Forest yesterday to be sent to children and families in Tibet, following devastating earthquakes earlier this year.
The woolly mammoth knitting effort of 200 kg worth of garments, or 21 boxes and 4000 balls of wool, has been organised by Jo McAlpine from Frenchs Forest.
About 200 people from all over Sydney heard about the appeal in June and have been knitting scarves, jumpers, beanies and more, many which will go to orphaned children.
“One girl lost both her parents in the earthquake and is being brought up by her grandfather and she said a jumper (from the knitting appeal) was the first new article of clothing she received since then,” Ms McAlpine said.
“One of the knitters was not well and unable to leave her house for quite a while, so I gave her some wool and she knitted a new little cardigan.
“Two days later I received a telephone call from her, saying the cardigan was ready and for the first time in three months, she went to the mall to buy embellishments to show how much love it was made with.
“I just wanted to say thank you to the knitters, it is an amazing effort.”
Ms McAlpine said Fred Bare kids clothing label has also donated clothing to the children.
Two other large shipments have already been sent in previous months, where knitting efforts are now expected to decrease over the summer months.
