Welcome to Canada: Heartfelt Quilts for Ukrainian Refugees

Retirees in Canada have come together for a heartfelt mission: sewing quilts for Ukrainian families who have arrived in the province. "Welcome to Canada. We care!"—this is the slogan these retirees have chosen for their project.

Dozens of volunteers, mostly retired women from Carman and the surrounding communities, have tirelessly worked for weeks to offer the warmest welcome possible to Ukrainian refugees fleeing the war. The initiative was organized last month by Maureen Carr. She told CBC that after seeing a news piece about the war in Ukraine, she felt she had to help in any way she could.

When Maureen contacted local authorities with her idea, they immediately supported it and provided her with a large workshop hall to prepare the quilts. "From that point on, all I needed was to recruit skilled hands to help create them," she shares.

Through an ad in a local newspaper, Maureen received dozens of calls from retirees with sewing backgrounds, which got the project off the ground. It was completed this week. "We are happy we could do something for people who have lost almost everything in their lives," the project leaders now say with excitement.