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By Tanner Smith
25th anniversary

Stitch Club of GP celebrating a quarter-century of community service

Apr 28, 2026 | 4:18 PM

A local club is celebrating 25-years of community service.

The Stitch Club of Grande Prairie has been operating in the City for a quarter-century, with Club President Anne Sawchuk there from the start; “I’m one of the first four, and I’m still with the club, everybody else has either passed away or moved away.”

“When we started out, it was just initially donating to like a house fire, somebody had a fire you heard about, and so you donate a blanket or something, or there was a fundraiser they needed something to raffle off or auction off. So that was kind of where we started, and then we got into more designated charities,” said Sawchuk.

Over those 25 years, the club has “had probably over 150 people come and go,” with over 80 currently in the club, leading to “thousands of balls of yarn passing through” and ending up back in the community.

Sawchuk adds that it is always rewarding for the club to see their hard work being used by people in need; “I was riding down the elevator at the hospital, and there was a new mom there who had a hat and a blanket for her baby, and I poked my mother-in-law, who was with me, and I said, we made those, and then turned out she (the new mom) ended up donating us some yarn”

As the club continues to grow, Sawchuk says they will bring on more charities recommended by members, while continuing to outdo themselves from the year prior, adding, “the ladies seem to think we should do that.”

Last year, over 40 local organizations received 7,086 knitted items, their largest donation to date.

When it comes to celebrating their anniversary, Sawchuk says their “kicking some ideas around,” and are thinking about a luncheon, but it’s hard to organize with a group so large.

Anyone wanting to make a donation to the Stitch Club, they accept cash, gift cards, cheque and yarn, and can be reached by calling 780-505-2252.

by Tanner Smith