Message inside the card: Thank you so very much We love our hats!! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Your Friends Lacey Spring 4 year old preschoolers.
Message: Dear Friends, I can't thank you enough for the beautiful caps you made for my class of sixteen four-year-olds. The children are so very proud of the caps and ask to wear them every time we go outside. With this cold weather we've had lately, you've helped to make outdoor play a lot more enjoyable. Many, many thanks! Ann Ford Pleasant Valley Elementary Preschool
Belva Redmon Knitting Guild at HUU
Several years ago HUU became the heir to the contents of an entire knitting store. We got five knitting machines, a weaving loom, and tons of yarn. We felt this windfall could be the basis of a service project for the congregation.
We didn't have to look far for projects. Right here in our area were many needs. Thus far we have made hats for the homeless, hats and blankets for the hospital's premature babies, and hundreds of hats for the "at risk" four year olds in the Rockingham County school system.
If we ever run out of needs in our own community, there is the world. What we need are people to join us in our efforts. As a knitting group we are small. Many of the items that have been made have been done by people outside our group. We would like to invite you and your friends to join us on the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month at 7:00 PM at Elinor Fankhauser's house. We will even teach you to knit, crochet, and if you have patience, to use the knitting machines. For details, call Elinor at 438-8558 or Beryl at 438-8327.
Some of our projects have included knitting hats for local pre-school and kindergarten groups. On the right are just a couple of the many thank-you notes received. Click on the thumbnail to see the larger image.
Other recipients of knitting guild projects, have been the Family Birthplace and Healthy Families of the Blue Ridge. A note from them -
December 20, 2002
Knitting Guild:
Recently I carried several baby blankets made by the knitting guild up to the Family Birthplace. On the way I stopped and showed a co-worker and friend the napkin size blankets. She looked a bit puzzled and asked what they were for. When I explained they were for the perinatal loss program and would be given to the parents of still born babies she immediately became tearful. I have worked with the perinatal loss program for a very long time and I know that until HUU started making these beautiful and tiny blankets it was hard to get them small enough. Thank you for providing a keepsake for a lifetime for families facing a very painful loss.
In addition to the perinatal loss program HUU knitting guild has made blankets, hats and sweaters for families in the Healthy Families of the Blue Ridge program. These are first time parents of children 0 to 5 years old with risk factors that make it more difficult than normal to enter the role of parenting. Often these are families with very few resources. HUU has provided Christmas gifts of warmth and love to several families this holiday season.
On behalf of the families and children whose lives have been touch I extend a very heartfelt THANKS.
Cindy Reeves
(Cindy Reeves is a social worker with the Rockingham Memorial Hospital Community Health Department.)