Ladies help keep children warm
MARS — A group of fast-fingered females are keeping children warm all over the world.
Several members of the Mars Chapter of AARP spent their second winter clicking their knitting needles together to create the 18 sweaters, 10 lap robes and assorted slippers and "chemo hats" displayed at Mars United Presbyterian Church last week.
The sweaters were packed up and shipped to Guideposts Magazine headquarters in Carmel, N.Y., where they will be sorted and shipped to poor neighborhoods in the United States and to Third World countries. The sweaters are all children's size 4 through 16.
Dorothy "Dot" Kennihan of Middlesex Township said the local program began after she was approached by Mars AARP president Betty Cashdollar, who heard about the long-running Guideposts sweater program from a friend. Kennihan immediately agreed to coordinate the local effort.
"You think of all the little ones who would appreciate something nice and new: a warm sweater that is their very own, not a hand-me-down," said Kennihan.
She began by asking for donations of yarn, which arrived in abundance from members. She then handed out a copy of the sweater pattern to all interested knitters, and the looping and dropping began.
"The ladies like to do this in the winter months because some of us aren't out as much in the winter," said Kennihan.
Cashdollar agreed.
"It's nice to have something to do in the winter months, and it's so nice to give to poor children who need something nice and warm to wear," she said.
Kennihan said the children's knitted sweaters can be any color, but must be washable and have no buttons or other fasteners.
"It's because they're going all over the world, and the children can just pull them on," she said.
In this, the group's second year of knitting sweaters for the Guideposts program, Kennihan also collected lap robes, knitted slippers and knitted fur hats for patients and residents at St. John Specialty Care Center in Mars.
The lap robes are to cover and warm those in wheelchairs, and the colorful hats are for cancer patients who have lost their hair due to treatment.
"If they have a trip to the hospital or for a treatment, they'll have a cap to keep their head warm if it's cold outside," said Cashdollar.
Kennihan said the lap robes are being delivered to St. John, but she is waiting to collect a few more hats and pairs of slippers before she sends those.
Kennihan said she collected about the same number of sweaters last year, and there is no end in sight for the program.
"We're going to keep doing it as long as the ladies keep knitting."
Cashdollar said about 15 women worked this year on the knitting and crocheting. The Mars AARP has 200 members.
About 70 regularly attend the meetings, held at 1 p.m. the second Wednesday of every month at the Mars United Presbyterian Church on Crowe Avenue.
For more information, call Cashdollar at 724-538-4723.
