One day during the summer, one of the chaplains came to me with a request. Some women at a local senior center knit and crochet buntings and clothing for the infants who pass away in our OB/neonatal wards, and the yarn is getting expensive.
From my office, I publish a classified listing of sorts, comprised of ads placed by hospital and health system employees. It's kind of like Craig's List, but without the creeps.
This chaplain asked me if I thought we could put a wanted ad in this listing, and - of course - I said yes. I also mentioned that I crochet and asked what kinds of items our pastoral care team is looking for.
I found out that the senior center ladies have been making primarily buntings for the departed preemies, but there has been a lack in newborn sized outfits.
You see, part of the grieving process at our hospital includes dressing the new baby and spending time with him or her before having to say a final goodbye. The outfits are then given to the parents as a keepsake...a small token of their baby that they can take home with them. Our pastoral care team tries very hard to make sure that each of the outfits is special, and they prefer to have them hand-made.
The problem with this is that if the outfits were to be purchased directly from crafters on Etsy or through another avenue, the cost would be extremely prohibitive.
So I asked if I could help. Chaplain D was so excited, tears popped into her eyes. Since this summer, my mom and I have been crocheting newborn outfits and donating them to pastoral care whenever we can. Mom's making little boy outfits that are absolutely adorable, and I've come up with one dress so far.
I'm calling it the "Little Angel."
This photo shows the first three I donated to our hospital's pastoral care team this summer. I'm playing around with my methods a bit, trying out sleeves and more length...hoping to come up with something that would be suitable as a christening gown.
If any of you are interested in crocheting or knitting for charity, I'd like to suggest contacting your local hospital to find out if their pastoral care team is in need of anything. In addition to this particular situation, cancer caps and prayer shawls are donated on a daily basis at the hospital where I work, and I know the recipients appreciate every last one of them.
You may also want to find out if your local hospital, senior center or church takes yarn donations for projects like these. This is a great way to clear up some room in your stash, and you'd be helping someone else in the process.
To date, I've collected over one thousand skeins of yarn for the ladies at the senior center...and I'm looking forward to graduation so I can spend some more time with my hook in hand.
I don't talk about it much because it's still too painful but I can say from personal experience that what you are doing means A LOT to the parents of these little angels. Thank you for your part in making a tragic time somewhat more bearable.
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