The Celtic Knitters recently held their annual Christmas event, where they presented a year’s worth of Boomer Caps and Issy Dolls to Boomer’s Legacy founder Maureen Eykelenboom.
The Celtic Knitters, who have met weekly for five years to knit the Issy Dolls and Boomer Caps, are part of a large community effort which has resulted in over well over 300,000 Caps and Dolls being shipped to Afghanistan, Romania, Uganda, Guatemala, Ethiopia, and other parts of Africa, to name a few.
Caps and dolls are knit by volunteers across Canada and the U.S., and shipped to the Boomer Cap Committee in Comox. Full-time local volunteer knitters Elizabeth Ens and Crystal Liebigt, have knit up to five caps per day for the duration of the project!
The Boomer Caps project was started in 2006 by friends of Eykelenboom, upon hearing the news that her son, Cpl. Andrew (Boomer) Eykelenboom, had been killed in Afghanistan by a suicide bomber. They wanted to help the children in Afghanistan the way Andrew did, and in doing so, honour him and all the other fallen soldiers.
The caps are distributed by Canadian soldiers wherever they are deployed, to babies and children who have very little, and for whom a warm toque could save a life.
Caps have also been given to charitable agencies for delivery to disaster areas throughout the world, including over 240,000 caps and Issy Dolls to ICROSS (International Canadians for the Relief of Starvation and Suffering).
Children from the local school district have also been instrumental in the success of the Boomer Caps project, packing and boxing the Caps throughout the year. Last week, 3,000 Boomer Caps were packed by 25 Grade 6 students in Ms. Anderson's and Mrs. Kelly's class at Queneesh Elementary in Courtenay.
Boomer’s Legacy is a non-profit organization dedicated to raising funds for the Boomer’s Trust Fund, a Fund that is accessible for all deployed Canadian soldiers, wherever they are deployed, so that they can provide humanitarian assistance on the ground.
You can find out more and download a Boomer Caps pattern at www.boomerslegacy.ca.
— Boomer’s Legacy