KNITTERS KNOT IT FOR PREEMIES, SELVES.Byline: DENNIS McCARTHY Dennis McCarthy may refer to:
This is how you get named Woman of the Year by the California state Senate The California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature. There are 40 State Senators. The state legislature meets in the state capital, Sacramento. The Lieutenant Governor is the ex officio President of the Senate. , and have Maria Shriver Maria Owings Shriver (pronounced: /'ʃɹaɪvɚ/) (born November 6, 1955) is an American journalist and the wife of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and, as such, the First Lady of California. personally seek you out to shake your hand. You listen to your 12-year-old's concerns about some sick babies, then you follow your heart. That's what Kathy Silverton did eight years ago, when her daughter, Shane, showed her a newspaper story about premature babies finally getting to go home from the hospital, but not having anything to wear because they're still too tiny for regular baby clothes. ``I started calling up hospitals to see if they could use some help getting things like booties and blankets for their babies,'' Silverton said. ``They all said yes, and it just grew by word of mouth from there.'' Soon, a handful of friends was gathering in Kathy's living room a few days a week and knitting tiny booties, sweaters, hats and blankets. From that, the nonprofit A corporation or an association that conducts business for the benefit of the general public without shareholders and without a profit motive. Nonprofits are also called not-for-profit corporations. Nonprofit corporations are created according to state law. Stitches From the Heart program has grown nationwide to more than 6,200 knitters, who have donated more than 200,000 items to 432 hospitals and shelters. This past March, when the California Senate announced its Women of the Year, it was Silverton receiving the 23rd District award from state Sen. Shiela Kuehl and first lady Maria Shriver. ``I was surprised when Maria showed up and said she had heard about us, and wanted to meet me personally,'' Kathy said, as she and other members of Stitches' Tarzana chapter held their monthly meeting at a local Starbucks, where they knit clothes for preemie babies and young homeless children. There's another group doing the same in Porter Ranch, and five more scattered Scattered Used for listed equity securities. Unconcentrated buy or sell interest. throughout Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, . There is also a Stitches From the Heart knitting store in Santa Monica Santa Monica (săn`tə mŏn`ĭkə), city (1990 pop. 86,905), Los Angeles co., S Calif., on Santa Monica Bay; inc. 1886. Tourism and retailing are important, and the city has motion-picture, biotechnology, and software industries. , where boxes of clothes are shipped to hospitals all over the country. A neonatal-intensive care unit can be a cold, frightening place, and seeing these babies, attached to monitors and IVs, wrapped in colorful blankets helps make it less scary, nurses say. ``At least once a month I'll get a call from someone in Stitches From the Heart wanting to know what we need,'' says Kathleen Alfe, director of women's and children's services for Northridge Hospital Medical Center Northridge Hospital Medical Center is a hospital in the Northridge town of Los Angeles, California, USA. It is currently operated by Catholic Healthcare West. History The hospital was founded in 1955 by Dr. . ``Many times we'll have babies from families who don't have the funds, so we'll send them home in beautiful baby clothes and blankets these women have knitted. The parents are so appreciative that someone is doing this for their babies. These women are great.'' That isn't to exclude Ron Geraci, a retired Burbank firefighter and the sole male knitter in Stitches From the Heart. He was going stir crazy while at home on disability leave for a heart condition, so he asked his wife to teach him to knit. ``You'd be amazed a·maze v. a·mazed, a·maz·ing, a·maz·es v.tr. 1. To affect with great wonder; astonish. See Synonyms at surprise. 2. Obsolete To bewilder; perplex. v.intr. by the number of men who knit, but don't admit it,'' he said. ``For me, helping Stitches From the Heart is payback Payback The length of time it takes to recover the initial cost of a project, without regard to the time value of money. and charity. Whatever I can do to help those sick babies get off to a better life, I'll do it.'' It's the same feeling with all the members in these knitting clubs Knitting Clubs
Knitting clubs are a feature of the recent revival of Hand Knitting which began in America and has spread to most of Europe. , says Sue Reynolds of Northridge, who started the Tarzana chapter. ``A lot of the women who join say they've made everything for their family, their grandchildren GRANDCHILDREN, domestic relations. The children of one's children. Sometimes these may claim bequests given in a will to children, though in general they can make no such claim. 6 Co. 16. are grown, so who do they knit for now? When they hear about what we're doing, they knit for the babies.'' Not a meeting goes by that five or six of the women don't share the letters they've received from other members, as well as grateful parents who took their premature baby home from the hospital, dressed in beautiful, hand-knit clothes. Silverton related a letter she had just received from a cancer patient who blocked out the pain of the treatment and the fear of the outcome by knitting booties and hats. The women understood. In one way or another, they've all gotten some valuable therapy. ``We've all gotten more out of this than we've given,'' said Silverton, the Woman of the Year. ``It's an incredible feeling to know that somewhere in the country right now, babies are going home dressed in warm, colorful blankets and clothes we knitted for them.'' Dennis McCarthy, (818) 713-3749 dennis.mccarthy(at)dailynews.com --For information on Stitches From the Heart or to donate yarn or other knitting supplies, call Sue Reynolds at (818) 886-8457. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Members of Stitches From the Heart work at a local Starbucks. Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer |
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