MY SITE
  • BLOG
  • ABOUT DONNA
  • CONTACT

​​FUN

WITH
​
HEIRLOOMS





WARMING HEADS AND HEARTS

11/29/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
Courier-Times photo by Donna Cronk // Deb Ferrell unpacks hand-knitted hats sent by her friend, Melody Sutherland Ruth of Delaware, and hands them off to Guest House men's shelter director Bruce Aaron.
PictureNew Castle native Melody Sutherland Ruth doing her thing.
This story was a joy to report.  From today's New Castle Courier-Times.

By Donna Cronk


Melody Sutherland Ruth grew up in New Castle and while her folks have since passed on and she rarely returns, she wanted to do something for her hometown.

Ruth, a Hockessin, Delaware resident, was chatting with her New Castle Chrysler High School Class of 1975 classmate, Deb Ferrell, and learned about the Guest House men’s shelter where currently 28 men reside.

Ruth decided to knit 30 hats for the men in a variety of colors out of thick yarn.


She isn’t sure how long it took to assemble the hats because due to the portable nature of knitting projects, she often takes them along wherever she goes and knits in 10- and 15-minute sessions while waiting for appointments and such. She sent the finished hats to Ferrell last week and she delivered the full box to Guest House Executive Director Bruce Aaron.

“It warms your heart ...” Aaron said of the donation. He planned to hand them out right away.
Aaron said that while the shelter gets donations of money, clothing and toiletries, these gifts were personal and touching.

“It gets a hold of your heart that somebody would have that compassion that far away,” he said. “It’s humbling.”

For the knitter, the project is inspired by her late mother, Irma Sutherland, who would now be 102 and passed away in 1999.

“My mom did a lot of charity work,” Ruth said. “I think Mom would like that (the knitted hats).”

She said her New Castle mother was known for homemade noodles that were in demand from friends. She didn’t want to be paid for them but decided that if noodle-recipients wanted to put some money in her jar, she would use it to buy coats for kids at the Christian Love Help Center.
Ruth’s father, Paul, has been gone for more than 40 years.

She said her mother didn’t have a lot of money, but she could always come up with funds to help others. The daughter’s takeaway is that it doesn’t cost a lot to be able to do something for people in homeless shelters.

“I wanted them to know that somebody took the time to make them something,” Ruth said.
Ferrell is impressed with her friend’s follow-through on the project, not merely paying it lip service as people often do.

“It was born out of her compassion for people in her hometown,” Ferrell said.

The Guest House, 1407 Walnut St., is more than five years old and has sheltered between 400 and 500 men in that time. This year alone, more than 100 have lived there.

Ruth, now retired, has worked as a special educator, group-home director and fraud analyst for a major credit card company. She has knitted for 10 years. Her hope is that her effort will inspire someone else. 

"It gets a hold of your heart that somebody would have that compassion that far away. It's humbling."
— Bruce Aaron
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    DONNA CRONK

    FUN WITH HEIRLOOMS
    is my most popular program for 2023, inspired by my memoir There's a Clydesdale in the Attic: Reflections on Keeping and Letting Go. Contact me to hear about my programs for your event.

    CONTACT: Let's talk about it. Call me at 317-224-7028. Email:
    newsgirl.1958@gmail.
    com.  



    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015

    Categories

    All
    Age Thing
    Aging
    Author Journey
    Christmas
    Clydesdale In The Attic
    Cooking
    Cooties
    Crafts
    Creepy!
    Decor
    Faith
    Family
    Farm
    Fashion
    Friendships
    Gardening
    God Bless America
    Gratitude
    Guest Posts
    Hair!
    Halloween
    Holidays
    Home
    Indiana
    Indiana Bicentennial
    Keeping The Peace
    Life Connections
    Mail Call
    Newspapers
    Next Chapter
    Pen Women
    Photography
    Poison Ivy!
    Quilting Club
    Reggie
    Retirement
    Sadness
    Seasons
    Seller's Cabinet
    Shopping
    Sleep
    Snow Day
    Tourism
    Travel
    Union County
    Weird Food
    What We Keep
    Writer Chicks Society
    Writing

Proudly powered by Weebly
Photos used under Creative Commons from Lise1011, Simone Ramella, StarsApart, Biblioteca General Antonio Machado, kennethkonica, roseannadana: Thank you for 3 million views, GotCredit, chuck4x5, besnette, nielskliim, James E. Petts, jeffdjevdet, rumolay, kkmarais, tgrauros, susivinh, Larry1732
  • BLOG
  • ABOUT DONNA
  • CONTACT