Seniors from the Good Companions Seniors’ Centre on Albert Street are knitting scarves to help raise awareness about HIV-AIDS and counter the stigma surrounding the sexually transmitted, immune-system disease.
The seniors are volunteering to support the Red Scarf Project, a campaign created in 2012 to promote better understanding of the spreadable virus HIV and the fatal disease it can cause, AIDS. The aim is to create 100 red scarves for use in large-scale art installations designed to mimic red ribbons, the universal symbol of AIDS awareness. The scarves will be draped around structures in downtown Ottawa for public viewing during AIDS Awareness Week, leading up to World AIDS Day on Dec. 1. Following World AIDS Day, the scarves will be donated to the homeless.
“The Red Scarf Project is an awareness campaign that’s about limiting the stigma of HIV and AIDS and talking about it,” explained Carin Fraser, a case manager for the Regional HIV/AIDS Connection.
“People are as informed as they choose to be,” says Fraser. “This is why we continue to promote education in the community. The need is still there.”
Linda Janes-Peddle, the crafter coordinator at Good Companions, said that the Red Scarf Project is a great campaign. She says a number of seniors at the centre also participate in other charitable craft activities, including weaving or crocheting recycled milk bags into mats for people in the developing world.
“For some people this is a second home,” says Janes-Peddle. “The difference between us and the City of Ottawa who offer similar programs is that when seniors come in, some are in for the whole day, some come to volunteer or here to get a hot meal.”
According to the U.S.-based Foundation for AIDs Research (amfAR), about 37 million people in the world are living with HIV, with 2.6 million under the age of 15. In 2014, North America had 2.4 million people living with HIV and 26,000 deaths were caused by AIDS.
Mary O’Brien, the leader of the knitting group says they enjoy making scarves because it’s something that should be important to the community. According to O’Brien, the endeavor started when a student employee came across a flyer advertising the need for knitters.
“We had a student working at the good companions for one of the community groups and she had a flyer about the Red Scarf Project and that’s how we found out about it,” says O’Brien. “We just went ahead with it and when I told about it in my group they were all keen about the project. They think it’s a worthwhile cause.”
With the help of 15 knitters, the knitting group at Good Companions has made a total of 30 red scarves since June, with plans on making at least 20 more before mid-November.