This is the Hootables Story
First published in the Barrie Examiner June, 2013
Stitches, stuffing and labels… bad stuff to good stuff
By Donna Douglas
A few years ago I was rough shape with a bad back. Lots of pain. Trying to carry on work. Reduced activity. Mostly, I could manage the pain if I laid on my left side. [I didn’t do this without pain meds]
I’m a knitter of huge projects, normally, but you can’t do that and lay on your left side. And so…I picked up four short needles and started to play around with a circular pattern, ultimately coming up with a pretty cute owl. Standing about 12 inches high, full of character with claws and a beak and orange and black eyes. And then I did another.
My husband took hold of one, gave it a squeeze and announced “this is a girl!” And we chose a name. Petal. And then I did another, and he again gave it a hug and announced its gender. And Peter was born.
Petal is the very first owl that rolled off my knitting needles. September 5, 2011 is her ‘birthday’ and back then I wasn’t assigning numbers to Hootables. I had no idea where these owls would go or the good they would do.
Who owns Petal? Julianne Spurling, a Barrie admin support expert.
While I was slowly producing owls, I came upon a sad story of a young woman who was working diligently in high school without financial hope of ever getting to post secondary education. This idea didn’t hit like a thunder-bolt; it sort of emerged as a possibility. If these owls found their way into a few public spaces, maybe people would buy them. I wonder: could I make enough of them???
And so I kept knitting. After my back surgery put me upright again, the owl production grew and people started to buy them, at $50 an owl. No charitable number. No money spent by me to promote this. I just kept knitting (and of course running my business, playing with grandchildren, walking the dog, and all the other things that fill a happy life.)
What has been amazing about this project is the enthusiasm of others. People have commissioned owls to send to adult children. Grandmas have ordered owls for upcoming babies. A couple of clients have lined the owls up on shelves in their stores. And owls have headed into the arms and hearts of kids and those young at heart people, too.
Bev Bayley commissioned a Hudson Bay-like owl and that launched a little series of Hudson’s. Business owners wanted owls in their corporate colours.
Graphic Designer Tyler Thurston created a logo. Emily Boriss designed canvas labels with the individual name of each owl. Teresa at UCA Branding produces them cost-free to me. So on the derriere of each owl is a sewn label, complete with name & birthday & Hootable #.
- Hutchinson. Ezra.
- Janine. Melanie.
- Hugh. Ginger.
- Bobby. Higgins.
- Rosey. Ada.
It goes on and on. Owls (I call them Hootables) are now in Thailand, Montreal, Victoria, New York, New Jersey, New Zealand, Australia, Costa Rica, South America, Cayman Islands, Sweden, Germany and beyond.
Last week I was able to take the proceeds and write a cheque for $4300 for one year’s tuition for a deserving young woman who’s taking Early Childhood Education at Algonquin College in Ottawa.
So here’s the gift. Laid up, an opportunity presented itself, and a whole community has embraced with enthusiasm this effort to give.
Isn’t’ it remarkable the number of gifts that nestle inside the negative stuff in our lives?
Update: By the end of third quarter, 2024, Hootables have raised over $172,000. Tuition has been completely paid for our first student, who went on to university on scholarship. Our second student Leeann has graduated and is in full time employment but just applied to a university nursing program, with no student debt. All six semesters have been paid for our third student who has graduated and was employed until fall, 2022, when, sadly, he passed away. Our 4th student graduated January, 2022, as a dental assistant and is working full time. Our fifth student has just graduated as a Registered Practical Nurse, moving up from her role as a PSW. Our 6th student is Danika who registered in the paramedic program but didn’t finish. Our 7th student is Majaida, in Personal Support Worker program. And 3,200 owls have flown off my knitting needles and the needles of volunteer knitters Kathy Eyers, Joanne Wilson and Ayla Demiray. Thank you for your support!
Who are the Hootables students?
As of Fall 2024, sales of Hootables owls have supported seven young people ‘in crisis’
We use the word ‘crisis’ because these young people either have no family, or no access to financial support for education And, because we support one person at a time, it is a careful process.
Generally, we choose a student who is taking a program that is not going to have a high wage upon completion… a student loan is daunting for these young people!
Thank you for believing in me and seeing potential in me, allowing me to have the courage to follow my dreams. Thanks for being the biggest support!
So many changes and blessings have come my way since the day I was chosen as Donna’s Hootables student. I started this journey as a young senior in high school determined to make it somewhere with no idea of how I could get there, I just had this dream. I didn’t think post secondary education was an option for me but I had amazing teachers during my senior year at Barrie North that pushed me to apply myself and encouraged me to even take a shot and apply for college. They continued to motivate me and uplift me throughout the last semester of my time at Barrie north, and it was because of them and the wonderful ladies at the front office that knew of my story that brought me and Donna together. Donna has been family to me ever since, she’s warmed up my life so much more than a post could ever summarize. This has been experience has meant so much to me and has shaped me into the person I always strived to be, I can’t thank you enough for your support over the last 4 years. I have now graduated from two college programs and I am now in the process of studying for my Dental Board Exam 🦷❤️ and I owe all the thanks to each and every one of you who supported me along the way!
Student #1. Jami took Early Childhood Education and graduated from Algonquin College in Ottawa. She is now a busy mother of two.
Student #2. Lianne studied Personal Support Work at Georgian College in Midland. After employment in that field, she financed her own studies to become a Registered Nurse.
Student #3. Mat had huge family support issues and we were contacted by two of his teachers from the Graphic Design program at Georgian College in Barrie. Hootables funded the final two years of his program.
Student #4. Tiffany was a very motivated, self supporting 17 year old who had graduated from North Collegiate in Barrie, as an Ontario scholar. She went to Georgian College in Barrie to become a Dental Assistant. She is happily employed by a Barrie clinic.
Student #5. Chantal was part way through her two-year program as a Registered Practical Nurse. She was working as a PSW at a nursing home in Collingwood and wanted to upgrade her skills and remain at the same home.
Student #6. Danika. A graduate of North Collegiaate, Danika registered for Emergency Services work. Carrying a part time job and needing financial support, she started her first semester, but didn’t finish.
Student #7. Majaida lives with her grandparents and completed her high school studies through the Simcoe County School Board’s School Within a College (SWAC) program. She is now being supported by Hootables to complete a Personal Support Worker certificate.
Volunteer Knitters
Kathy Eyers
Ayla Demiray