Warm hearts (and hands) on Winnipeg Mitzvah Day

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This article was published 16/11/2022 (1417 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

What this world could use is a little mitzvah — or kindness. That’s the idea behind the fourth annual Winnipeg Mitzvah Day.

Organized by the Winnipeg section of the National Council of Jewish Women Canada, Mitzvah Day — Nov. 20 — is a day for people to do a good deed for others.

“Mitzvah,” in Hebrew, literally means “commandment,” but it has taken on the idea of doing a good deed, local section president Sharon Graham said.

“It’s about making a difference in our community,” she said, adding the event originated in the United Kingdom and spread to other countries.

Mitzvah Day isn’t just for members of the Jewish community, Graham said.

“We are always looking to expand the circle of participants,” she said, noting a number of different non-Jewish groups and businesses are participating this year. “It’s a great inter-faith activity.”

To date, 24 organizations are signed up to participate in Winnipeg’s Mitzvah Day.

“We are so happy to be building friendships, getting to know each other better and pool resources to effect great change,” said Graham.

Examples of doing a mitzvah could include shovelling a neighbour’s driveway, volunteering at a food bank or even taking time to learn more about an issue like homelessness. “It’s also a mitzvah to learn and raise your awareness,” she said.

A special focus for this year’s Mitzvah Day in Winnipeg is homelessness and helping vulnerable people stay warm in the cold.

To that end, the Winnipeg section of the national council is encouraging people to make donations of old fur coats and leather jackets to Warm Hands, Warm Hearts, a project that uses the materials to make mittens for people on the street.

Project runner Sheila Cailleau, who makes mittens for sale through her business (Magpie Chiq), was disturbed when she saw people without hand coverings on the medians of city streets asking for donations.

“I would keep mittens in my car to give away to them,” Cailleau said, adding she sometimes gave away her own mittens.

When she realized she couldn’t keep up with the need on her own, Cailleau founded Warm Hearts, Warm Hands three years ago to involve others in helping to meet the need.

So far, about 50 volunteers have worked to take apart donated fur coats and leather jackets to make mittens. The goal this year is 200 pairs; Cailleau said they have made about 150 so far.

“It’s amazing,” she said of the volunteers. “It’s not measurable how grateful I am to them.”

Taking apart the old fur coats can take time. (“There is a lot of stitching to undo.”)

The fur is used for the lining of the mitts, with a leather exterior. About six to eight pairs of mitts can be made from a knee-length fur coat.

The mitts are distributed by the Bear Clan volunteer community patrol. “They see the people who most need them,” Cailleau said. “They are on the front line.”

As for the recipients, “Everyone deserves to be warm, and have beautiful, quality mitts.”

People seeking to do a mitzvah by donating an old fur coat or leather jacket or to volunteer on the project, can contact Cailleau at magpiechiq@gmail.com.

For more information about Mitzvah Day, or to be part of it, contact Graham at info@ncjwcwinnipeg.org or 204-339-7291.

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