Published February 20, 2025
For well over a decade, a close-knit group of women, typically retired senior citizens, has been gathering monthly in the Nardone Conference Center at Westerly Hospital to chat, laugh – and knit beautiful lap afghans for patients.
Today, only about five regular members attend the sessions, so they are reaching out to try to swell their numbers. Recruitment flyers for the group have been placed in popular community locations.
“The enthusiasm of the remaining members has really led to this push to see if we can grow the program,” said Abigail Horner, Westerly Hospital’s volunteer coordinator.
Why join? “We’re like a family,” said Glenna Wilson, a longtime knitting volunteer from Ashaway, RI. “When we meet, we’re catching up, finding out how everyone’s doing. It’s very social.”
There’s also a valuable purpose behind it.
“We’re helping patients,” said Jackie Serra of Westerly, another longtime member. “It makes me happy, knowing that other people are receiving these blankets, and they’ll have them forever. You also get to use your artistic skills by putting the right colors together. It’s fun.”
When the group first formed, the blanket colors were standardized and specific to each unit. Knitters asked if they could use different colors and “after that it just blossomed into all kinds of different designs,” Wilson said.
The group has several satellite members who don’t attend but still donate blankets. One is a woman in her late 90s; another is a woman who lives in North Carolina and mails them to her mother in Westerly.
High school volunteers typically distribute the afghans to patients, often with small notes attached saying who made each blanket. The knitters say they often receive thank you cards.
“The look on their faces when they get a blanket, it’s wonderful,” Wilson said. “One day, I went into a patient’s room and the man’s daughter said the blanket I had for them was her father’s school colors.”
Anyone interested in joining the group may contact Horner at 401-348-3969 or [email protected].
