A Portage la Prairie volunteer's knitting toques for people in impoverished countries around the world through the local Operation Christmas Child program.

Some items with the toques going out in Christmas ShoeboxesSharon Giesbrecht says she got the idea a few years ago while watching Ron Edlridge of Winnipeg on TV hand out clothing to homeless people.

She says it takes her about two and a half to three hours to knit one toque. Giesbrecht started donating the items to the Carman shoebox effort, and called Margaret Lutz here in Portage last year to see if the local program could use some. Lutz told her they'd be thrilled for the donations.

Giesbrecht adds, "It's really great just to see the look on people's faces when they receive a hat. It's a lot warmer than store-bought hat. It takes people back to when they saw their grandmas knitting. It gives them that warm, fuzzy feeling of family, of belonging, and of good days in the past."