Locally made BaggyPants make African orphans smile

A fixture at craft shows and farmers’ markets near and far, BaggyPants is a local success story. In 2002, Sue Stevens created her signature pair of super comfy, baggy pants that could be worn by anyone and quickly developed a loyal following.

But after several years in business, she always had an accumulation of inventory that didn’t sell – other colours and patterns were more popular that year, or not as many people wanted a particular size. It compounded over the years so when someone suggested donating them to an African orphanage, Stevens was all ears.

“Being at the market, I talk to a lot of people. About three or four years ago I was approached by a woman about a donation. I gave her a huge bag full and sent it with her. I never heard anything again, but I assumed they were appreciated by someone.”

Last year, she was approached again and given the address of a man in Montreal who travels to Africa every few months, taking donated clothing with him. Stevens knows that this orphanage is in Bata, a port city on the coast of central Africa. As with the previous donation, she really didn’t expect to hear anything more. But then she received some pictures and, thinking they would be fun to share, nonchalantly posted them to her Facebook page. The response was overwhelming. In less than a day it had received more than 200 likes and more than 60 comments.

“I didn’t expect that reaction,” says Stevens. “It’s never a big deal to me, it’s just something I do.” She spreads the love locally, too, regularly donating items to silent auctions or to companies who sponsor families at Christmas.

Stevens says the response to her post makes her think those overseas donations will become a regular part of her business, just as supporting local charities has. “Something so little means so much to the kids and just with the overwhelming response, it makes me realize it is a nice thing to do. There’s a lot of people in need in Africa and people have already reached out to me about other orphanages.”

She’s also already thinking about other ways to help. “My wheels got going. I have extra fabric that I’m not going to use. I could make simple little dresses – it wouldn’t take much to whip them up.”

Next time, though, Stevens says she’d like to deliver them herself.

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