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Date: 3/31/2021
WESTHAMPTON – Nancy Ronan, a resident from Westhampton, recently created a charity knitting group with her friend titled “CommuKnitty” to help fill a need for local nonprofits.
The group began because Ronan, who learned how to knit years ago, wanted to fill a certain void in her life once the pandemic shut most places down. As a member of the Board of Directors for Bright Spot Therapy Dogs Inc., Ronan would usually take her two therapy dogs to Westhampton Elementary School, where students would read and interact with the dogs. She would also take them to nursing homes and retirement homes, too.
“With everything shut down, the dog work has gone on hold,” said Ronan, who added that she seriously picked up knitting again about two years ago. “I was just thinking, ‘yeah, I would like to do some charity knitting – knitting with a purpose.’”
Her sister and one of her friends, both longtime knitters, were ecstatic about the idea of starting this group, so Ronan reached out to her mentor and teacher about the idea since she is the one who spearheads a weekly online knitting group with other local residents.
“I brought it up to her, about doing some charity knitting in our group instead of other projects,” said Ronan. “She was all on board for [the knitting group], as well.”
After having these conversations, Ronan put out a message on her Facebook asking people if they knew about any projects the group could work on together. At that point, Ronan’s neighbor Carol McMurrich, who is also the founder and director of the Empty Arms Bereavement Support in Florence, reached out to Ronan to see if CommuKnitty would make hand-knitted mug cozies and other self-care items that would be sent to mothers who have lost their babies.
“Giving self-care bags to the parents is one of the most important things we do,” said McMurrich. “When your baby dies, you sometimes neglect yourself and your body, which has just given birth.”
Ronan and her group set a goal of 50 mug cozies, 50 rice bags, and 20 handmade pottery mugs. This project with Empty Arms Bereavement, which ended up being the March beneficiary for CommuKnitty, included 20 to 25 active members from CommuKnitty, as well as help from sewers and potters in the area.
“The rice bags can be used either for pain management for cramping when warm, or for pain management for breast engorgement when cooled,” said McMurrich. “These carefully curated bags say, ‘we know your suffering, and we see you.’”
Despite having already reached their numerical goal for the month, Ronan said that people can still drop off those items to her since objects like rice bags and mug cozies are an ongoing need for McMurrich.
“I wanted to make sure with my goal of 50 that they had a good supply,” said Ronan.
For April, CommuKnitty will be making snuggle blankets to donate to Thomas J. O’Connor Animal Control and Adoption Center in Springfield. The blankets will be in honor of Ronan’s friend’s dog, who passed away after being struck by a car recently.
“I think people are looking for ways they can help other people by making use of their skills,” said Ronan. “If anyone’s interested in knitting something and donating it, that’s wonderful.”
As of press time, CommuKnitty features 40 people within their Facebook group. According to Ronan, around 12 people donated items to her for the first project, with more donations still to come. One pottery worker donated nine handmade mugs for the March beneficiary.
For future months, Ronan said that she will be looking for other nonprofit organizations in the pioneer valley to see if they need any assistance or support. She asks anyone who knows of a place in great need of a knitting project to contact her with any information. Ronan also added that the group would preferably want knitting projects that are not too time-consuming.
Anyone who would like to contact Ronan with project information or because they want to join the CommuKnitty group, should do so by emailing nronan01@gmail.com.
“Hopefully, [CommuKnitty] will inspire other people to start their own ideas or own community service endeavors,” she added.