The Seminole State College Employment Readiness Program and the Workforce Oklahoma are providing hats, scarves, gloves and socks for those in need at their shared location in downtown Seminole. The clothing items are arranged on a Christmas tree outside of the Employment Readiness office and available to the public. The clothing items were donated by a YouTube crocheting community, SSC and Workforce employees.

SSC Director of Employment Readiness Veronica Taylor spearheaded the endeavor, called the Happy Holiday Tree. For 25 years, Taylor has worked in human services. Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, Taylor launched a YouTube channel called Crochet by Night.

“I started the channel so I could continue to teach students how to crochet, and because we have so many students say they want to be a YouTube creator as a career. I wanted to see how it works,” Taylor said.

Taylor put out a call for donations on her channel. Fellow content creators and followers of her channel mailed crocheted and knitted items from across the United States and Canada.

The Happy Holiday Tree is located at 229 N. Second in the east parking lot across from BancFirst. The tree will be up until December 26, 2021.