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Last Christmas, there were "no rooms left at the Inn" for one of our weekend long Christmas shows. $450 per night was too much for us to justify paying. So...
We slept in the parking lot. In our trailer. With no power for the heater.
We had WIFI. Lots of warm wool blankets. And each other.
It wasn't too bad even though the temperature dropped to -12 degrees at night and there was a very strong wind and snowfall both days.
Other than sleeping on park benches, at airports and on trains and ferries during our university backpacking "EUROTOUR" during the summer of 1982, this is as close to HOMELESS that we've ever been. We don't recommend it.
Despite all of the blankets and the Fred snuggles, I must have been clenching all night and developed sciatic pain which persists a full year later. Fred got a cold.
We also caught a deeper understanding and empathy for what it must be like for the many, many Canadians currently experiencing homelessness who have no choice but to sleep outside every night without the protection of a trailer, mattress, multiple blankets, warm clothes and a companion and access to a warm breakfast in the morning.
Empathy without acting is not who we are.
So here's the plan...
MadMatters will donate one super warm wool blanket to people who really need one for every super warm wool blanket we sell.
Fred and I are busy serging and sewing as many blankets as we have as fast as we can so that you can choose your favourite pretty one and we can get a layer of warmth quickly to someone who needs it.
We'll be posting our blanket selection on our website and Facebook pages as we get them done. Most are "One of a KIND", so keep your eyes pealed as they are sure to sell quickly.
Woolrich Blankets are the same quality as Pendleton Blankets with a slightly lower price. MadMatter prices on Woolrich Blankets are exceptionally low as our blankets do not come with branding or logo patches. Fred and I purchased as much inventory as we could from Woolrich's Pennsylvania Wool Mill when it closed in early 2019. We have a large and unique selection as we simply purchased anything and everything they had left after almost 200 years of weaving wool. We LOVE their quality and history and were so happy to get whatever we could that we drove down to Pennsylvania 6x to fill up our van.
Our blanket inventory came unfinished on a roll or unfinished as samples which were never produced en masse. This means that some of our blankets are truly "One of a KIND". It also means that they are both VINTAGE and NEW. Vintage because they could have been woven 60, 70, 80+ years ago and new because they have never been used and this is their first time out of the mill.
We are calling on you to consider supporting our blanket initiative. If you need a warm blanket or would like to gift one to someone for the holidays, please take a look at ours first. Your blanket purchase with us means that someone else will get one too.
If you don't need a blanket, we will set up a special low sponsorship price for the blankets we plan to donate "LOVELAND FARMS". We'll get these off to @519Pursuit as quickly as we can. 519Pursuit is the fabulous initiative that just successfully completed their 55,000* sock drive. These lovely folks distribute needed good both directly to homeless folks or to existing London agencies like the Unity Project so that supplies are available where they're needed, when they're needed.
Pillows: 2 of our Woolrich Pillow will also qualify for this initiative
*MadMatters was able to contribute 20 pairs of warm wool socks to this year.
We slept in the parking lot. In our trailer. With no power for the heater.
We had WIFI. Lots of warm wool blankets. And each other.
It wasn't too bad even though the temperature dropped to -12 degrees at night and there was a very strong wind and snowfall both days.
Other than sleeping on park benches, at airports and on trains and ferries during our university backpacking "EUROTOUR" during the summer of 1982, this is as close to HOMELESS that we've ever been. We don't recommend it.
Despite all of the blankets and the Fred snuggles, I must have been clenching all night and developed sciatic pain which persists a full year later. Fred got a cold.
We also caught a deeper understanding and empathy for what it must be like for the many, many Canadians currently experiencing homelessness who have no choice but to sleep outside every night without the protection of a trailer, mattress, multiple blankets, warm clothes and a companion and access to a warm breakfast in the morning.
Empathy without acting is not who we are.
So here's the plan...
MadMatters will donate one super warm wool blanket to people who really need one for every super warm wool blanket we sell.
Fred and I are busy serging and sewing as many blankets as we have as fast as we can so that you can choose your favourite pretty one and we can get a layer of warmth quickly to someone who needs it.
We'll be posting our blanket selection on our website and Facebook pages as we get them done. Most are "One of a KIND", so keep your eyes pealed as they are sure to sell quickly.
Woolrich Blankets are the same quality as Pendleton Blankets with a slightly lower price. MadMatter prices on Woolrich Blankets are exceptionally low as our blankets do not come with branding or logo patches. Fred and I purchased as much inventory as we could from Woolrich's Pennsylvania Wool Mill when it closed in early 2019. We have a large and unique selection as we simply purchased anything and everything they had left after almost 200 years of weaving wool. We LOVE their quality and history and were so happy to get whatever we could that we drove down to Pennsylvania 6x to fill up our van.
Our blanket inventory came unfinished on a roll or unfinished as samples which were never produced en masse. This means that some of our blankets are truly "One of a KIND". It also means that they are both VINTAGE and NEW. Vintage because they could have been woven 60, 70, 80+ years ago and new because they have never been used and this is their first time out of the mill.
We are calling on you to consider supporting our blanket initiative. If you need a warm blanket or would like to gift one to someone for the holidays, please take a look at ours first. Your blanket purchase with us means that someone else will get one too.
If you don't need a blanket, we will set up a special low sponsorship price for the blankets we plan to donate "LOVELAND FARMS". We'll get these off to @519Pursuit as quickly as we can. 519Pursuit is the fabulous initiative that just successfully completed their 55,000* sock drive. These lovely folks distribute needed good both directly to homeless folks or to existing London agencies like the Unity Project so that supplies are available where they're needed, when they're needed.
Pillows: 2 of our Woolrich Pillow will also qualify for this initiative
*MadMatters was able to contribute 20 pairs of warm wool socks to this year.
1 comment
There is nothing like warmth to get everyone through our Canadian winters. Much success in this welcoming endeavor.