The Blue and White met with Mrs. Hamilton, sponsor of the Knitting Club, and Sophomore Nathan Mitchell, President of The Knitting Club, to learn about their new projects for a baby drive. This baby drive is to help single mothers learn how to provide for and take care of their babies. Mrs. Hamilton explained what they do with the donations and where the idea came from.

Mrs. Hamilton shared that “There’s a place in Sanford where the moms get to go and take classes–maybe a class on how to argue productively without getting really upset, or how to change the baby–anything along the way. They do little classes, and every time they attend one of those classes, they get points. And those points are what they spend in the store. So the items are all free to them, but they have to put in some effort, which is really nice. That way it is not just a handout it’s an “I did something to earn this” you know, which is really good. It’s actually my doctor who told me about it. [They have] anything that would benefit a single mom and a baby, so it could be [for] a toddler, it could be [for] a pre-teen, it could be [for] any age.”

Mrs. Hamilton then explained what type of donations they are looking for in the baby drive.

“Any kind of homemade item is wonderful. Some of us are doing like teddy bear stuff, I had a student that brought in some earlier. You know, these kinds so things…having that toy or a homemade stuffed animal is pretty nice. I don’t think everybody always appreciates that kind of stuff, but that is the kind of thing that we’re doing. Nathan and I will put together a list of stuff that we’re [looking for], things like hats and gloves, even for younger kids with bigger hands, and stuff to take care of the baby. I might consider food for next year. I’ll find out some more things about the program, because I’m kind of new to it right now.

The President of the club, Nathan Mitchell, then clarified how you can participate in the baby drive.

“Since we’re Needle Arts Club, we’re going to be crocheting and knitting baby blankets, beanies, and stuffed animals. But we’re looking for stuff like formula, bottles, toys, and all that kind of stuff. It’s rough for some mothers who aren’t able to breastfeed, so it will be great if we can get some. If we can’t, we’ll look for other donations, as well as anything we can do to help out single mothers. It started during the first Needle Arts club meeting of the year, and we’re going to end it sometime around February 17th. We may extend it if there are enough donations. We’re hoping that our members have learned enough over the course of the year, especially some beanies and blankets. Obviously, you know, they’re kind of hard sometimes, especially for a beginner, so it’s not like a mandatory thing. But when we meet, it’s kind of a social club, so we spend our time sitting around doing our projects talking, and sometimes I’ll teach people. So I’m hoping that teaching people will start bringing in those donations of hand made items. I had a neighbor in my old neighborhood who was a mentor, and so what she did is, she had a long history in crocheting, and so she offered to teach me. It was a couple of months in her house every day learning all the basic stuff, and then buying some supplies myself. It’s become the most prominent hobby of my life over the past two years. All donations can be made to room 508, that’s Mrs. Hamilton’s room. We will be donating all proceeds to the single mothers’ facility in Sandford.”

The Blue and White gives thanks to the Knitting Club for generously using their resources to help out single mothers. If you have any questions on how you can contribute, contact [email protected].