The Downtown Knit Collective

Special projects - Relay for Life

The Canadian Cancer Society Relay for Life is an overnight non-competitive event that celebrates cancer survivors and pays tribute to loved ones. It involves teams of 10 people who take turns walking or running around a track to raise funds for the Canadian Cancer Society. In the case of the DKC team, we KNIT all night.

www.dkcknitsforacure.blogspot.com

January 2011

Ann Martin, Program Coordinator of Gilda’s Club Simcoe Muskoka, wanted to pass this message along to our members:

I want to extend my thanks for the wonderful donation of beautiful scarves we acquired through Wannietta Prescod. We offered up the scarves to our Wellness Support Group Members and they all wear them proudly. The workmanship is beautiful and many of our members hope that one day their skills will be as developed as some of your knitters.

Gilda’s Club is happy to accept donations of scarves, hats, shawls and yarn from the Downtown Knit Collective. This is the very club in Barrie where one of our popular workshop instructors, Wannietta Prescod, spends a great deal of time gaining support during her journey with treatment for breast cancer. Please bring all donations to our monthly meetings and I will be happy to deliver them.

November 2010

Wannietta Prescod, a popular workshop instructor for the DKC is currently undergoing treatment for breast cancer. As a good friend, what should I do? She lives in Angus so I couldn’t run over for a cup of tea. Of course, a chemo cap!

Here is a picture of Wannietta proudly wearing her cap and the lovely thank you note she sent to me.

Thank you so much for taking the time to knit such a thoughtful hat Joan. The yarn is soft (especially important as my scalp is becoming more sensitive) and it’s snug enough to stay on nicely. Especially as a knitter it’s a comforting thing to know that another knitter has taken the time & care for such a special gift. It will be loved for a long time!!
-Wannietta

October 2010

Our hats,scarves and shawls do not go unnoticed. Many, many scarves and hats were delivered to the Cancer Society at the conclusion of this year’s Relay for Life. Lucy Chan, chairperson at the Toronto Centre Relay event forwarded the following lovely email to us in response to this donation:

“I always enjoy opening your shipments and was delighted with the contents! It was great to see that there are a variety of colours, yarn and designs. The hats were also a welcome donation. Please pass my thanks on to all the knitters.”
Leslie Sheriff, Volunteer Resources Coordinator
Canadian Cancer Society
Princess Margaret Hospital Lodge

Denise Powell has volunteered to deliver our monthly donations to Leslie at Princess Margaret Lodge.

I encourage you all to continue knitting scarves and hats in a variety of colours. Your efforts are truly appreciated.

September 2010

For the sixth straight year, the Downtown Knit Collective had a team at the Central Toronto Relay for Life. This year we raised just under $5000 for the Canadian Cancer Society. Our team included Denise, Pat, Wendy M., Dawn, Cristina, Julia, Wannietta and two of her friends, and myself. Joining us on the team was Edna, a breast cancer survivor. This year we were very thrilled to have two very special guests, Patrick and Mary Pat join us. We all stood up and cheered as Patrick, Mary Pat and Edna participated in the Survivor Lap proudly wearing “pink scarves of hope” to start off the evening’s events.

Many gorgeous, brightly coloured scarves decorated our tent. In fact, we happily handed out some scarves to some participants with cancer. We were totally thrilled to send Cristina’s blue shadow knit scarf to a young fellow undergoing treatment for testiticular cancer at St. Michael’s Hospital. His brother was very touched to have this “scarf of hope” to deliver.

Overnight, we knit by lantern and headlamps, even when the rain began during the early hours of the morning. And once again, we delivered a huge garbage bag full of scarves to the Cancer Society at the closing ceremonies. Our team was honoured to receive a certificate for the Best Decorated Tent.

Participating in this event just reinforces the impact that our Knitting for a Cure scarves do have on those undergoing treatment for cancer. Please keep those scarves coming in every colour of the rainbow. Help us keep sending out those “scarves of hope”.

June 2010

I doubt that there is one of us who has not been touched by cancer.

This year the Downtown Knit Collective Relay Team site will be decorated with the many colours of cancer. We will be knitting scarves in the many colours of the Rainbow.

Did you know that different types of cancer are represented by different colours? Think teal for ovarian and cervical cancers, grey for brain cancer, orange for leukemia and kidney cancer, yellow for sarcoma and bladder cancer, burgundy for multiple myeloma, and so on. A full list of the colours for cancer can be found at www.rainbowofhopecanada.ca.

Our team will be knitting a rainbow of scarves all night on June 11th at our lantern lit site at Forest Hill Memorial Park. At the end of the Relay, all of the scarves will be donated to the Canadian Cancer Society to give a hug to those undergoing treatment for cancer as part of our Knitting for a Cure programme.

We need your help. Please support the DKC at the Relay for Life with a donation to the Canadian Cancer Society.

May 2010

The Canadian Cancer Society Relay For Life is more than just a fundraiser. It is our opportunity to get together with other Knitters and celebrate cancer survivors, remember and fight back in the hope of finding a cure for this terrible disease.

The Downtown Knit Collective Relay team exudes a combination of enthusiasm, dedication, creative fundraising… and knitting! This will be our 6th year of participation in the Toronto Central Relay for Life. Initially, our team was formed to honour past DKC president, Annabelle Dawson, who died of brain cancer nine years ago. It was from watching Annabelle’s courageous cancer journey, that the knitting pattern book Annabelle’s Caps became a reality. Money from the sale of these books was donated to cancer charities in Canada and the U.S. This would be Annabelle’s legacy. In an effort to expand and continue this legacy, the DKC entered a team in the Relay for Life. The first year, our tent was decorated with the original Annabelle’s Caps and the Knitting for a Cure programme was launched.

Last year, the theme for our Relay site was “Think Pink for Patrick”. Our inspiration—our dear friend and the vice president of programming for the DKC, Patrick had just been diagnosed with lymphoma. The team knit a pink scarf for Patrick throughout the evening. After the Relay, the scarf was delivered to him so he could have his own personal hug from the Downtown Knit Collective. This year, we hope Patrick will join us as a survivor.

Patrick was not the only DKCer to encounter cancer last year. Both Mary Pat and Carol had their own personal cancer journeys. Cancer is not selective. It can strike any one of us.

Knitting for a Cure is an ongoing initiative. Scarves, caps and shawls are knit by our members and donated to the Cancer Society for distribution to those undergoing treatment for cancer. Although we initially knit pink for those undergoing treatment for breast cancer, we have now expanded and accept all colours for the many types of cancer.

The DKC Relay Team is passionate about the fight. We have come up with creative ways of fundraising throughout the year. Denise Powell, a.k.a. Dr. Knit wearing a white coat offers her expertise in solving knitting problems for a small donation at the DKC Knitter’s Frolic. Team members have also wound skeins of yarn into balls ready for knitting and a draw is held for a sweater kit.

But we need your help too. If you are free overnight on June 11- 12, please consider joining our team. We really have fun knitting throughout the night at our lantern-lit site. Contact events@downtownknitcollective.ca or speak to Joan Kass at a DKC meeting.

The DKC team has raised over $20,000 at the Relay. Please make a pledge to one of our team members. Go to the Canadian Cancer Society, Relay for Life site, select the “Downtown Knit Collective” team and pledge your support. Or, support a team member at a DKC meeting.

Donate scarves, chemo caps and shawls to be delivered to the Canadian Cancer Society at the end of the Relay. The Relay for Life is fun, fulfilling and raises funds for cancer. As Knitters, we get together and knit at the same time as raising money for cancer. Join us, support us and knit for us as we participate in this 12-hour overnight event and come together in the fight to make cancer history.

February 2010 - Ribbons of Hope

Cancer touches us all. For more than five years, we have knitted PINK scarves, hats, shawls etc.for those undergoing treatment for breast cancer.

Now, we are extending our Knitting for a Cure programme to those undergoing treatment of other forms of cancer.

We all know that pink is associated with breast cancer because it is so widely promoted. Did you know that there are special colours for just about all known cancers?
All cancers—Lavender
Bladder—Yellow
Bone—White/gold
Brain—Grey
Cervical—Teal
Childhood—Gold
Colon/ Colorectal—Royal Blue/Brown
Esophogeal—Periwinkle blue
Gynecological—Lavender
Head/neck/oral—Burgundy/Ivory
Hodgkins Disease—Violet
Kidney/renal—Orange
Leukemia—Orange
Liver—Emerald green
Lung—Pearl/clear
Lymphoma—Lime green
Melanoma—Black
Multiple melanoma—Burgundy
Ovarian—Teal
Pancreatic—Purple
Prostate—light blue
Retinoblastoma—white
Sarcoma—Yellow
Stomach—Periwinkle
Testicular—Orchid/violet
Thyroid—Blue/teal/pink
Uterine—Peach

Lastly, we must not forget to honour the caregivers with Plum.

We cannot change history or get our loved ones back but with our handknitting we will reach out and give a “hug” to those affected by cancer.

June 2009

The Downtown Knit Collective celebrated its 5th year of participation at the Canadian Cancer Society Relay for Life last June. Our team first participated in the Relay in 2004 to honour a past DKC president, Annabelle Dawson, who died of brain cancer approximately 8 years ago. It was from watching Annabelle's courageous cancer journey that motivated the group to come up with creative methods to fight back…365 days of the year.

Annabelle came up with the idea to create a book of knitting patterns for chemo caps. Knitting designers from around the world submitted their patterns for inclusion. The money raised from the sale of these books was donated to cancer charities in Canada and the U.S. This became Annabelle's legacy. In an effort to expand and continue Annabelle's legacy, the DKC entered a team in the Relay for Life. Our first year, the tent was decorated with the original "Annabelle's Caps". That evening, we also launched our "Knitting for a Cure" program.

"Knitting for a Cure" is an ongoing initiative. Donations of pink yarn are received from various yarn companies and members knit this yarn into pink scarves. Every month, scarves are collected and delivered to the Canadian Cancer Society who distribute them to various hospitals and hospices. Every scarf comes with a tag signed by the knitter and may include words of inspiration, such as "From one survivor to another". The DKC wants everyone to have their own "pink ribbon of hope".

Our theme this year's Relay was "Think Pink for Patrick." Our inspiration, our dear friend and the vice president of programming for the DKC; Patrick had just been diagnosed with cancer. Team members, Denise Powell, Carol Adams, Dawn Juruc, Sandy Wetherald, Pat Herschmann, Andrea Eves, Laura Ewing, Wendy Mauzeroll, Christina Simionovici and Joan Kass took turns knitting a pink scarf for Patrick throughout the evening. In addition, the team raised approximated $5000 in donations for the Cancer Society.

June 2008

We came, we celebrated, we remembered... June 20th at Forest Hill Memorial Park.

Once again, the DKC combined with the Toronto Spiders participated in the Relay for Life to raise funds for the Canadian Cancer Society.

What a night... our brightly-lit site was a hive of activity. All night long, our site was busy with not only our team participants but so many visitors. Members of other teams dropped by to try their hand at spinning with Julia Lee or Denise. Judith Somersett was busy teaching knitting to newbies on a "community scarf". Jody and Nina from Creative Yarns joined us for several hours. Other knitters and family members dropped by to see what we were up to. The night passed so quickly, we couldn't believe the sun was already rising.

Thank you to Pat Herschman, Julia Lee, Carol Mather Miles, Denise Powell, Wannietta Prescod (and Amanda), Cristina Simionovici, Judith Somersett, Carole Thomas, Andrea Eves and Sonja Fijn for joining me in raising $6417 for the Canadian Cancer Society. In addition, we contributed an additional 87 scarves to the DKC Knitting for a Cure initiative. Thank you to all of you who sponsored us!

September 2007

This year, your DKC Knitting for a Cure team raised $4,594.00, the second-highest amount raised by any team at the Central Toronto Region Relay event held at Forest Hill Memorial Park on June 22nd-June 23rd. Congratulations to team members: Barb Aikman, Sonja Fijn, Julia Lee, Carol Mather Miles, Denise Powell, Wannietta Prescod, Cristina Simionovici, Judith Somersett, Carole Thomas and Joan Kass.

This wonderful group of women braved very cold temperatures (so cold, you could see your breath) to knit all night. We wrapped ourselves in blankets and huddled close to our camping lanterns but 'knit on, we did'. Our spinners, Julia, Barb and Denise had their wheels whirling to rpoduce lovely pink yarn. Wannietta caught a wireless signal and kept the DKC Knitting for a Cure blog updated throughout the night. We even had some knitters who came by to visit and knit for a while. Drea, in fact, stayed all night! Pizza arrived at midnight. Wannietta and Cristina made a Tim's run and finally the sun came up. Who can forget the 120 Cherry Timbits that Wannietta brought along...one Timbit per team member per hour, of course!

It was a night of fun, friendship and fundraising. Our tent decorated with 65 scarves attracted many a participant off the track to have a look/touch. By the end of the night, we had filled a large box with 85 scarves and one chemo cap, some collected at DKC meetings but many knit overnight, which we presented to Lindsay Grange of the Cancer Society at the Relay's closing ceremonies.

We were also very pleased this year to be represented in the Relay's Survivor Lap by Sharon Hampson, a breast cancer survivor and past member of the DKC. It really made us proud to watch Sharon walk the lap wearing a Knitting for a Cure scarf.

Thank you to the team members...you were awesome! Thank you also to the many many yarn companies who donated PINK yarn...there will be lots of pink yarn available at the Dr. Knit table each meeting for all DKC members to knit into pink scarves.

Pictures from this year's event and a list of yarn companies making donations can be found below.

For the second year in a row, the DKC has had a team in the Canadian Cancer Society Relay for Life. Overnight, June 23-24th, found DKC team members Marsha White, Marg Yamanaka, Cera Maugey, Sonja Fijn, Tanya Astolfo, Laura Ewing, Barbara Angier, Denise Powell, Wannietta Prescod and Joan Kass busily knitting pink scarves in support of breast cancer. Sonja Fijn's wonderful "Knit for the Cure" signs along with the many many lovely pink scarves hanging from the sides of the tent drew a great deal of attention from other Relay participants. Many thanks to the generous yarn donations from Needful Yarns, Kertzer and Estelle Designs. These scarves will be donated to Breast Cancer victims and survivors.

Together, our team members raised $2,849.00 for the cancer society. Bravo! Did we have fun? Of course. Knitting together, Wannietta doing a coffee run to Tim's at 2:30 a.m., huddling in the tent to keep warm as the evening got chilly, Cera knitting on her knitting machine...the memories are fond and happy. Consider joining us next year....