Chase the Chill Aylmer

Good Friday afternoon, Elgin County! Thank you to a few private donors and the Aylmer Thrift Store for contacting me this week about further donations of hats, scarves and mittens to Chase the Chill -Aylmer. We just finished adding the additional donations to the railings of Our Lady of Sorrows, on John St S. This means that we have have received over 800 items this year and there may be about 100 items left for anyone who needs these cold weather clothing items. Most of the... items are not tagged with the Chase the Chill tag at this point, but I am sure people know the items are provided by the community, for the community. Please share this post so people who are in need of the items get them soon...winter has arrived! Have a super, warm day everyone. Marscha Organizer Chase the Chill -Aylmer See more

Good morning Elgin County, I visited the Aylmer Library and was handed one of these notices to share to with the community... Thank you, Ruby’s Cookhouse and the Aylmer Legion for your kind offer of a turkey dinner, on December 23rd (details attached in picture)! ... Also, thank you to all the businesses, missions, volunteers, neighbours and who support this community, particularly at this time of year. I know there are many guardian angels around town as well, who support less fortunate neighbours, quietly. You may be quiet, but what you do for others is not! Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a New Year full of blessings! Marscha Huber Chase the Chill - Aylmer

Good afternoon Chase the Chill-Aylmer supporters, This morning, I placed the last of the donated items of winter hats, scarves and mittens on the railing clothing line at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church. Chase the Chill Aylmer collected over 700 donated items this year from the various donation boxes around town; thank you everyone for your generosity! I have had multiple conversations this week with people of various ages and genders, at the steps of Our Lady of Sorro...ws, looking for a set of warm items for themselves and/ or a family member. The most common comment is how generous this is of the community in general and I wholeheartedly agreed, each time. It IS amazing and THANK YOU for your generosity! Thank you also to our perennial volunteers for sorting, tagging and placing the items at the railings of the church, I really appreciate your support. Further to this, I wanted to thank all the staff at the banks and credit unions in Aylmer, the Aylmer Express, Durkees, the Aylmer Public Library, parishioners of Our Lady of Sorrows and Trinity Anglican Church and the senior residents of Heritage Place retirement home for your support with this year’s collection. I will post another update next week or perhaps sooner, if the remaining items are picked up as quickly as this first week. Have a super rest of your day. Marscha

Good morning Elgin County, Just a quick update in regards to donations accepted on behalf of Chase the Chill - Aylmer. Thank you kindly ... we not only have reached our goal of collecting 600 items of warm hats, mittens and scarves, donations seem to be still trickling in. Having said that, I have returned to the railings of Our Lady of Sorrows(John St S) with volunteers twice already this week to replace items that have been taken by those in need of the warm items. A sincer...e thank you to the Aylmer Express for your support with coverage in the paper, as well as your partnership in providing Chase the Chill - Aylmer with the paper card/tags we use to identify the items . Have a super day everyone:) Marscha

Good morning, Thank you for your generous, colourful donations for Chase the Chill - Aylmer, Elgin County! Our volunteers were busy on Friday afternoon and evening sorting and tagging the scarves, hats and mittens. Our goal this year was to collect 600 items and I am pleased to report that we have reached our goal! On Saturday afternoon, we were able to hang about half of the items on the railings of Our Lady of Sorrows. As there was quite a bit of activity between Saturday ...afternoon and Sunday, items have been replaced this morning and the railings are full, once again. I have included a few photos in this post ... thank you to Chase the Chill volunteers for your help, we couldn’t do it without you!! Please share this page or post for awareness, thank you kindly in advance!! I will post an update again in a few weeks. Have a super day everyone! Marscha Organizer

Sunday morning funny!

Good morning Elgin County! Early last week, I stopped by many of the businesses collecting gently used or new scarves, mittens and hats on behalf of Chase the Chill - Aylmer, to see how the collection is coming along. In this "short" collection period this time around, we have managed to collect about 300 items, so far! I anticipate reaching our goal of collecting 600 items, by Friday!! I would like to give a shout out to a few perennial, as well as new contributing knitters/...crocheters/donators ... you are amazing and thank you for your generosity! I just love hearing your stories as to why you enjoy supporting Chase the Chill - Aylmer. It is truly heartwarming. In this upcoming week, I have been invited to visit the residents at Heritage Place retirement community, who have been knitting and crocheting throughout the year, for many different causes/events. On Friday at 2pm, we will begin picking up the boxes of warm items and immediately sort and tag them in the basement of Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church. They will be brought out to the steps of the church, located at 116 John St South, day by 4:30pm on Saturday, November 30, 2019. Wishing you all a wonderful Sunday and God bless! Marscha Organizer Chase the Chill - Aylmer

Good morning neighbours! A few updates for "Chase the Chill - Aylmer" 2019 ... A warm thank you to the Aylmer Express team, who provides us annually with "free advertising" in our local paper and the tags for the donated items, so people know they are available at no cost! ... On Friday afternoon, the collection boxes and posters were delivered to ALL of the banks and credit unions in Aylmer, as well as Durkees Department Store, Aylmer Public Library, Our Lady of Sorrows and Trinity Anglican Church. Thank you to each of these businesses for the warm support of Chase the Chill - Aylmer. I will provide an update in a few weeks to let you know where we are in the collection. The goal this year is to collect 500 items of gently used or brand new mittens, scarves and hats, for all ages. There has been a minor change in the time the items will be available for pick up at the steps of Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church. There will be a wedding celebration earlier that afternoon (congratulations in advance to the happy couple), so in respect of that celebration, we will make the winter items available at 4pm on Saturday, November 30, 2019. Further to this, you will notice an adjustment this year in how the items will be displayed on the church railings. There are 4 railings at the front of the church. In the past, Chase the Chill "took over" all of the railings. This year, we will leave one of the middle railings open ... the railings are there to help people gain access to the church! Chase the Chill Aylmer would like to thank the staff and parishoners for their ongoing feedback and support Have a super day everyone, Marscha Organizer Chase the Chill - Aylmer

Hello friends and neighbours, As promised in my last post to Chase the Chill Aylmer, I would connect with you once all the details of this year’s collection of brand new or very gently used cold weather mittens, hats and scarves were in place It is with a grateful heart, that I announce that the same businesses that have supported this cause previously, in Aylmer, will be accepting the donated items, on behalf of Chase the Chill - Aylmer.... Thank you again, to my connections at Bank of Montreal, Royal Bank, Meridian Credit Union, Scotiabank, CIBC, Kindred Credit Union, Durkees Ltd and the Aylmer Public Library for your partnership in collecting the items. It was nice to visit with you this week. It means so much to me that I was greeted with a smile at each location and you are talking excitedly about why I might be visiting, before I get a word out! It makes me smile when you offer a quick story about a customer who is eagerly waiting for THE BOX. I would also like thank the secretary of Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church in advance for printing the posters we will be using to advertise our 6th Annual Chase the Chill Aylmer. The usage of the railings at the church as a clothing line is also very much appreciated. Our Lady of Sorrows is an ideal location, for so many reasons! So, here are the dates: As this program is now familiar within our community, we will have a shorter collection period of 3 weeks, this year . The donation boxes and posters will be delivered to our partners mentioned above, by early afternoon on Friday, November 8, 2019. The collected items will be gathered from the various locations around town by 2 pm on Friday, November 29, 2019. The volunteers (yet to be arranged) and I will be sorting and tagging the items, in the basement of Our Lady of Sorrows that evening. Our plan is to begin moving the items to the front railings of the church at 3:30 pm. The items are available for the taking as soon as you see them! Any items leftover between Boxing day and the New Year will be donated locally (though we haven’t had any leftovers since our second collection). Lastly, I wish to thank you sincerely for your continued interest and support of Chase the Chill - Aylmer. Your community appreciates it! Feel free to share this page. Thank you for checking in and please look for us in an upcoming edition of the Aylmer Express. Marscha Huber Organizer Chase the Chill Aylmer

GM Elgin County! I thought I should send out an update ... it has been a while since I have posted in Chase the Chill - Aylmer! It is a hot and humid day today, in the County. It surprises me every year to hear that people continue to knit, even during the warm summer months (I am not a knitter myself). The creation and collection of items has begun! I have recently been approached by community members, in regards to this year's effort to help our neighbours, who are in need... of warm mittens, hats and scarves. I anticipate, like previous years, we will begin collecting the items at local businesses around Aylmer, in the month of November of 2019 and have them available for our community in December 2019. I will post again, once I have secured the actual dates and drop off locations. Have a super day everyone ... and enjoy the heat, while it is here!! Marscha Organizer - Chase the Chill Aylmer

Good morning Elgin County! THANK YOU so much for your generous help in supporting Aylmer's 5th Chase the Chill mission, with new or gently used hats, scarves, mittens and socks (new this year). In total, there were just over 700 items donated in November and December. That is incredible! It is such a cold and windy day outside today ... TWN says it is -7 c, with wind chill feeling like -15 c this morning - eek. A humble thank you for helping out your neighbor!... I would like to thank the following business and friends (in no particular order) for their support with supplies or donation collection, for this years mission: Our Lady of Sorrows Roman Catholic Church, Trinity Anglican Church, Durkees Ltd, BMO, RBC, CIBC, Meridian CU, Kindred CU, The Aylmer Library, residents from Heritage Place retirement home, Richard Stewart from Toasty Toes, Bill Murch, Leslie Graham, Joanne Sleeghers and Janet Griffith-Clarke. Many hands make light work, as they say; I am very grateful to you. I would like to say a special thank all "my knitters" out there for your amazing talent, work and dedication to this local mission. Every year, you surprise me with the quality and creativity of your works of art. There are too many of you to mention by name, at this point, but I wanted to say thank you for positive energy and encouragement. I have been told by 5 of you that you are already knitting for our next mission in November 2019. Lastly, I would like to thank the Aylmer Express newspaper for their continued support. Annually, the AE has donated the card/tags that we affixed to the items and provided excellent coverage in the paper the Chase The Chill program in Aylmer. Sending you all warm hugs on this cold day. Be well, Marscha Huber (organizer)

Good afternoon, Elgin County! A quick update on Chase the Chill, Aylmer ... I would like to thank my friend, Joanne Sleeghers, for keeping the railings/steps at Our Lady of Sorrows full and tidy for Chase the Chill - Aylmer, while I was out of town visiting family over the Christmas holiday. We have recieved additional quality donations over the last week from various sources and I have put them on the railings today. There are about 200 items left. Whatever items are left b...y the end of next week will be donated locally. If you know of someone who chould use these items, feel free to share this post so that they know the items are still available. Alternatively, you are welcome to take the items yourself and deliver them, if you have a friend in need or they would simply appreciate a "pick me up". Have a great day everyone! Marscha Huber Chase the Chill - Aylmer Organizer

Wow, we are flying through the items, faster than ever, this year!! I just spent the last hour and a bit replacing items on the railings at OLOS. Thank you to m...y friend Ginette who happened to be driving by and offered to help me today, muahh!!! I have about one third of the items left and will put those up as soon as there is room. Thank you for supporting your neighbourhood, Elgin County!! Marscha See more

Good morning Elgin County! Thank you soooo much for your generous donations of quality hats, scarves, mittens, baby blankets, socks and slippers for Aylmer's 5th Annual Chase the Chill. Collectively, we were able to collect over 600 items this year (our goal was 500 items)! Thank you to the volunteers who helped with the tagging, sorting and putting the items on the railing of Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church in Aylmer. The railings were completely full, yesterday at noon. About half of the items are on the railings now and the other half will be used to replace whatever has been taken, over the next few weeks. A big thank you to the Aylmer Express for our weekly coverage in our local paper, you guys are the best!! Have a fantastic rest of your weekend everybody! Marscha