Special needs adults craft storybook holiday tree for Torrance festival

TORRANCE, Calif. (KABC) -- Special needs adults from the Canyon Verde Adult Activity Center and other community volunteers came together in Torrance on Friday to finish "The Mitten Tree."

More than 60 pairs of mittens were knitted alongside other yarn ornaments to create the mitten-covered tree, inspired by Candace Christiansen's children's storybook of the same name.

The tree will be featured in Torrance Memorial Medical Center's upcoming 33rd annual Holiday Festival, along with 36 other volunteer-decorated trees.

Festivals guests can enjoy treats from the food court, music by local groups as well as dancing.

Over 10,000 volunteer hours were spent organizing, decorating and staffing the event. Four-thousand ornaments, wreaths and centerpieces were handcrafted and will be sold at the festival's Holiday Boutique.

The event opens Nov. 29 and runs until Dec. 4. General admission is $5 and admission is free for children two and under.

Proceeds will support the transformation of Torrance Memorial's North Patient Tower dedicated to mother/baby, neonatal intensive care and pediatrics.