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Fabulous Fabric Frenzy sale returns, raising money to help grandmothers in Africa

The Fabulous Fabric Frenzy sale returned to Edmonton Saturday April 30 after a pandemic hiatus. (CTV News Edmonton) The Fabulous Fabric Frenzy sale returned to Edmonton Saturday April 30 after a pandemic hiatus. (CTV News Edmonton)

Saturday marked the return of the Fabulous Fabric Frenzy, a fundraising event put on by local grandmothers.

The sale, held by The Grandmothers of Alberta for a New Generation (The GANG), took over the Strathern United Church.

“Our GANG members are an amazing group of people… we work joyfully for four to five hours every Thursday… and towards spring we put in long, long hours,” said Kate Gale, the coordinator for the event.

The GANG collects new, donated fabric throughout the year for this annual sale. This is the first in-person fabric sale since 2019 due to the pandemic.

“The fabric keeps coming in, we actually had to find another place to store it because we haven’t sold it for three years,” said Judy Mill, the chair of The GANG.

The money raised at the sale is donated to the Stephen Lewis Foundation in Toronto in support of grandmothers in Africa who take care of grandchildren whose parents have died of AIDS.

“We’ve found over the years that donors are very generous with us, they give us beautiful fabric… and they’re so happy to give it to a good cause,” said Gale.

There were 75 volunteers working the Fabulous Fabric Frenzy and before the doors opened, customers were lined up for a block from the door.

The fabric sale is The GANG’s “signature event” and has raised as much as $50,000 in past years, according to Mill.

“We’ve managed through online stores to continue to raise some money, but certainly in-person events like this are very crucial to our fundraising activities,” said Mill.

Due to the “abundance” of fabric the group still has, they are planning pop-up sales throughout the summer, including one at the Old Strathcona Antique Mall on May 22.

More information on future events will be available on The GANG’s website.

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