By Eric Elliott

Pioneer Staff

When it comes to international aid and development, it can often be difficult to understand where your money and donations are going.

Behind the leadership of Luana Gillies in cooperation with midwife students from UBC, the help couldnt be more clear with Gillies collecting hundreds of blankets from around the Columbia Valley for donation before being transported to Vancouver to go with students to Nepal and Uganda to serve the less fortunate.

People become a bit jaded about international development sometimes because you dont know where your money is going but in this case we know that people that need them are receiving them, she said.

Florence Raven and other groups such as the Happy Hands knitting group at the Columbia Garden Village have donated blankets and infant hats to be picked up by Ms. Gillies to be stored and eventually transported to Vancouver.

With hundreds of items sitting in her garage, the next step for Ms. Gillies is finding people who are traveling to Vancouver who would be able to bring along a garbage bag or two that could be picked up by one of the midwife students once in Vancouver. She is calling on members of the public to contact her if they are traveling to Vancouver or if they have extra yarn or fabric they are looking to get rid of so that she can make use of it for blankets and hats for the less fortunate to use.

Those looking to help out are encouraged to contact her at [email protected].