Sweater knitting contest coordinates with national drive
Central Michigan University Public Television is taking the “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood Sweater Drive” a step further.
WCMU is putting on its second "Mister Rogers’ Sweater Contest” to help children in need stay warm this winter. The drive is a program put on by the Mister Rogers’ organization Family Communications, Inc., which allows people to donate new or gently used sweaters to their neighbors in need.
While the sweater drive is a nationwide program through PBS, the idea for the contest came to Linda Dielman, WCMU’s program outreach manager, and Molly McFadden, Midland business owner and avid knitter, while working on a kick-off event for the sweater drive.
“We thought about bringing knitters on board with it and we could do it as a contest," Dielman said.
Together, the two started the contest last year. They also did a fashion show featuring the children to show the sweater submissions and a silent auction to raise money for the organization and PBS. After these events, the sweaters were donated to the Sweater Drive for a combined total of more than 8,500 donations.
“All of the knitters were so excited; they couldn’t wait to do it again this year,” McFadden said, “Mr. Rogers was about community and love and I think working with your community and those who love to knit and provide warmth is just a match made in heaven.”
Inmates in the knitting and crocheting program at the Saginaw Correctional Facility in Freeland also knit sweaters for the cause.
“We’ve got a box of sweaters now and we are going to have more before the deadline, some of them are for the contest and some are just donations," said Barbara Fisher, a volunteer in the knitting program at the facility.
Contest coordinators are hoping to see the contest aspect of the program grow and have it become a part of sweater drives nationwide.
“It would be great to see knitters from all over central and northern Michigan participate in the contest," Dielman said. "You don’t have to be a great knitter, you don’t even have to be a part of the contest; you can knit a sweater and donate it to the drive.”
Entries for the contest must be submitted by Oct. 7. The sweater drive will run from Oct. 8 through mid-December.
