Ethel's Mittens is finalist for contest project challenge

Ann Embry and kin are finalists in a national Pepsi Refresh Project challenge that could bring $5,000 to their nonprofit 501(c)3 charity Ethel’s Mittens.

The nonprofit, which makes and gives away free hats and mittens to the needy, is a family affair. Family members gather about five times a year and sew like there’s no tomorrow. During the rest of the year, they sew in their own homes. Sometimes they sew at weekend sleep overs.

So far Embry estimates Ethel’s Mittens has donated about 1,500 sets of the fleecy winter wear to those in need.

“As many as we make, they always need more,” Embry said.

Embry is hoping for a contest win that would allow her nonprofit to make and give away more mittens.

Some of the recipients of Ethel’s Mittens are: The Salvation Army, Sharing and Caring Hands in Minneapolis, homeless shelters, food shelves, churches, Linwood Senior Center and the Lions Club and Salvation Army in Minot, Wis.

When the nonprofit was featured on the national nightly TV news a while ago, the family received a request from a school district in West Virginia asking for patterns so they could run a similar campaign. Ethel’s Mittens not only honored the request, it sent about 60 sets of hats and mittens to children in need there.

A self-funded charity

On a meeting day, anywhere from eight to 20 friends and family gather to make the winter garments. That would include Embry and her three sisters, sister-in-laws and nieces. While the women sew and cut patterns, the men in the family – dads and nephews – cook and care for the younger children.

In total, the group has donated about $3,000 of its own money to buy elastic, fleece and thread. That’s not counting the cost of sewing machine needles, scissors replacements, scissors sharpening and machine maintenance and repairs, a necessity when working on the durable fleece fabric, which can be hard on equipment.

Although Ethel’s Mittens is mostly self-funded, SR Harris, a fabric outlet in Brooklyn Park, twice donated material to the nonprofit. Friends and family members have contributed and a private citizen once donated fleece after a local news program aired a segment on Ethel’s Mittens in 2009.

Named after their mom

Ethel’s Mittens is named after Embry’s mother, Ethel Yund, who died in 1998. But her children, Embry, Rosemary Emanuelson of Gordon, Wis., and Roseann Parke of Stacy, are keeping her memory alive.

Fleece Hat Patterns | Arts 5th Avenue

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