MOUNT FOREST – The Mount Forest Lions Club has joined other district clubs to donate 153 blankets this holiday season to children battling cancer.
Crystal Steffler is the childhood cancer chair for District A9 Lions and vice president of the Mount Forest Lions Club. She came up with the idea last year as one of the club’s different “pillars of service.”
It was her first year being the district chair and the club ended up with about 32 blankets and four homemade teddy bears to give to McMaster Children’s Hospital in Hamilton.
“I thought, ‘Oh, wow, this is fantastic,’” Steffler told the Advertiser.
In August, the Lions Club had its first district cabinet meeting where Steffler put her idea on the table for everyone.
“You know, ‘This is what we’d like to do this year. I would love for each club in our district to [donate] a few blankets,’” she said.
Toward the end of November, Steffler was getting several phone calls and emails from other clubs who had blankets to give, resulting in 153 blankets and quilts being given to children with cancer.
“I was super-amazed,” Steffler stated. “I was overwhelmed … I figured maybe 50 or 60, but holy smokes.”
She said she first thought of the blanket idea when she was visiting her husband’s family.
“I just had this notion. I wanted to go and get something done. Do something,” she said.
“So, we went and got some fleece and in the matter of [two to three] hours I had two little blankets made for the project.”
On Dec. 13, Steffler made the last donation of blankets “for now” to the Ronald McDonald House in Hamilton.
She said the experience was “heartwarming” and although it is not a place people want to be, it is the “best” place to be because they “make you feel like family.”
This holiday season, the Lions Clubs also donated blankets to Campfire Circle in Toronto, McMaster hospital and the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario in Ottawa.
“I guess, myself, having lost two cousins very young to cancer, it’s just something that’s very near and dear to me,” Steffler explained.
“I can’t maybe make a big difference on my own, but with the help of lots of people, we can maybe make a small difference in the lives of these little ones.”
The Lions will continue to collect blankets throughout the year for its holiday project.
Anyone interested in donating or helping with the project can contact Steffler at crystalasteffler79@gmail.com or 519- 827-6075.
