Kwantlen student shares the warmth this winter

Second-year Kwantlen fashion marketing student gives back.

By Tabitha Swanson
[associate culture editor]

It’s that time of year again. With shorter days and colder nights, its time to throw on that extra layer. But what about those who don’t have that extra layer to throw on? Well, Kwantlen student Katie Buemann has a solution for that.

Buemann, now in her second year of fashion marketing, created the organization Fleece the Streets in 2009, and was able to create 50 handmade blankets as well as hats, scarves and gloves to give to those who needed them.

This year, she said she is “going more for quantity instead of individual handmade blankets, because it’s not necessarily what people in that situation are looking for.”

She said her inspiration was to do “something good during the Christmas season.”

With so many charities to choose from, she had a hard time knowing which ones to trust to get her donations to the people who needed it most, and she “just wanted to do something local that could impact people who were less fortunate.”

After a two-year hiatus, she and her friend Christina May are starting it up again and hope to bring it back with a new energy.

Buemann and May will be collecting blankets until mid-December, when they will then donate them to a shelter.

If you want more information on how you can help by donating blankets or a little extra cash, you can message Fleece the Streets on Facebook.