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Scarves for Children
at Dzil Libei Elementary School on the Navajo Reservation.
Lois Castle is a member of a local knitting group in the
Shenandoah Valley that knits
for charity. She recently attended a
Tutoring Service program on the Navajo reservation at Gray Mountain/Dzil
Libei Elementary School near Cameron, Arizona and made a donation of
hand-knitted scarves, balls and jump ropes to the students there. We wanted
to share her story of giving during this holiday season.
"The group I
belong to that knits is called "From
the Heart". Our group is a chapter of it and we call ourselves "the Valley Knitters",
as we live in the Shenandoah Valley.
We knit soft hats for chemo patients, lap rugs for kidney dialysis patients,
sweaters for Teddy bears, (given to children in hospitals) and emergency
vehicles hats, sweaters, booties, blankets for preemie babies. For the local
Salvation Army at Christmas time we knit hats and scarves."
"When I signed up to go
to the school through the Elderhostel program, I told the group I needed 125
scarves by October, so they began in May. Depending upon the skill of the
person making the scarf, pattern, yarn used, needle size, it can take
anywhere from a day to a week.
We all meet in a local coffee shop called, the Daily Grind 2 times a week
from 1 o'clock to 3. One of the members had stopped at a coffee shop in
another town saw a group of ladies knitting and found out they were knitting
for charity. So she got a group of ladies she knew who knitted and started a
group in our area to do the same, I was in that group. The group has grown
by word of mouth, there were 5 in the original group."
Lois contacted us to see
if she could bring scarves for the kids at Dzil Libei to her program
this fall. Her knitting group -- made up of 15-20 members -- knit a total of
125 scarves for the children. Lois and her church, St. John the Evangelist
Catholic Church also donated balls and jump ropes to the kids at the
school. "I had told the parish members where I was going, when and what I
needed and how many. They generously bought the items for me to take."
"The program was excellent. I enjoyed myself immensely
working with the children. The children were delighted with everything,
picking very carefully the type of scarf they would like to have."
Thank you, Lois, for going "above
and beyond" for the children at Dzil Libei. Anyone interested in finding out
more about Lois' group can check their web site at:
www.fromtheheartstitchers.com and a
further search of the web will turn up lots more 'knitting/crocheting for
charity' web sites.
Happy
Knitting and Happy Holidays!
-Jennifer Beltz
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