SEQUIM — Sponsors of the Dungeness Valley Lutheran Church Yuletide Bazaar have donated $8,500 from the event to local organizations providing emergency aid and support for families during the coronavirus shutdown.
Receiving funds this year, church representatives said, are Clallam-Jefferson County Pro Bono Lawyers; First Step Family Support Group; First Teacher/Parenting Matters Foundation; Olympic Community Action Programs (OlyCAP); Olympic Peninsula Healthy Community Coalition; Peninsula Behavioral Health; Sarge’s Place/North Olympic Regional Veteran’s Housing Network; Sequim Food Bank and The Answer for Youth/TAFY.
First held in 1999, the Yuletide Bazaar is unlike many gift boutiques in two ways, organizers say: the event sells what crafters create themselves, vetted by an informal committee with gift shop and sales experience to ensure quality; and proceeds from the bazaar are donated to nonprofits — all of them local.
Over the years, the bazaar has resulted in donations of more than $100,000 to local organizations.
Despite the shutdown, crafters are continuing to plan for the 2020 bazaar scheduled for Nov. 21.
Working from home, crafters are knitting hats and scarves, felting cross-body bags, sewing aprons, bibs and tortilla warmers, crafting tree ornaments and yard art, and folding origami to embellish note cards.
They also are gathering treasures, such as 1940s paper dolls and sheet music for the vintage table.
