Echo Foundation residents knitting beanies with love
The residents of Echo Foundation facilities have opted to pass their time in lockdown by sewing beanies for first responders around the Bay.
The Echo Foundation offers more than 1,500 residents livein and frail care facilities, and has at least 10 villages across Nelson Mandela Bay.
The foundation and its residents started the #knittingwithlove campaign a week ago to offer support to medical staff at the forefront of the fight against the coronavirus.
The 30 women participating said they wanted to use their free time to do good.
Echo Foundation social services manager Joey Lohuis said the campaign sought to share a token of love and keep medical practitioners warm while they commuted to and from work during winter.
Lohuis said Mohair SA, SAMIL Natural Fibres and African Expressions donated mohair fabric towards the foundation’s #knittingwithlove campaign.
“The Echo residents not only want to keep their hands and minds active, but what is equally important to them is wanting to contribute to the Covid-19 relief effort, and support those who are placing their lives at risk to ensure others are healthy and safe,” Lohuis said.
“The #knittingwithlove initiative has given our residents, who are unable to see loved ones or venture out during the lockdown, a sense of purpose during a lonely and frustrating time.
“It has been incredible to see their excitement and passion for the project, with one of our Echo ladies knitting a beanie a day, no mean feat.”
Once the Echo residents have knitted 300 beanies, they will be delivered to medical practitioners working in Covid-19 ICU wards across the metro.
“They jumped at the opportunity, the response from them has been overwhelming,” Lohuis said.
“We are receiving beanies almost on a daily basis.
“They see it as a worthy cause.”
One of the residents, Lesley Palmer, 66, who is knitting one beanie a day, said the project kept her sane.
“If I did not knit beanies during my spare time, I would have been admitted into a madhouse at this time of lockdown,” she said jokingly.