Knitters let their fingers
help out people in need
BY LARRY RAMER
Staff Writer
Volunteers from the Greenbriar at Marlboro and Marlboro Greens adult communities donated their handiwork to charities during an event held Nov. 19.
MARLBORO — As the 2003 holiday season begins, several residents of the Greenbriar and Marlboro Greens adult communities have donated the fruits of their labor to those in need.
Seven women from the two adult communities recently donated clothing and afghans they had knit to charitable causes in the area, said Claire Sussman of Greenbriar, the organizer of the project.
At a breakfast sponsored by Wegmans and Bagel World on Nov. 19, the women donated their work to 180-Turning Lives Around of Hazlet, an organization that shelters abused women and children; Big Brothers and Big Sisters, which provides older mentors to children of single parents; Project Linus, an organization that aids needy families; and Project SOS, which helps American soldiers and their families.
The families helped by 180-Turning Lives Around received several afghans, Sussman said, while children helped by Big Brothers and Big Sisters will be given hats and mittens. Families served by the organization known as Project Linus received afghans and sweaters from the knitters.
Project S.O.S. has donated a quilt, a sweater, and a hat made by the women to the family of a New Jersey soldier who was killed in Iraq.
The soldier, Sgt. Joel Perez of Newark, left behind a wife and an 18-month-old child, Sussman said.
The family of Michael Curtin of Howell, one of the first soldiers killed in the war, received a quilt, said Project S.O.S. coordinator Andrea Mesh.
Project S.O.S. also donated blankets made by the knitters to soldiers from the area who are serving in Iraq. The children of soldiers who live nearby received mittens and hats made by the knitters, Mesh added.
Four women from Marlboro Greens contributed one afghan each to the effort and the three women from Greenbriar knitted the rest of the products. Sussman said the women from Marlboro Greens will continue to be involved in knitting projects in the future. Sussman’s two main assistants are Greenbriar residents Florence Weinstein and Rose Rockoff.
One thing the knitters need in order to continue turning out their blankets, hats and mittens is yarn, Sussman said.
Anyone who would like to donate yarn so that the women can continue to knit for charity may call Rose Rockoff at (732) 536-6838. Anyone who would like to knit afghans, children’s hats, mittens and scarves for charity may also call Rockoff.
Wegmans of Manalapan donated $100 worth of food and Bagel World of Manalapan donated 10 dozen bagels for the Nov. 19 breakfast, which was attended by about 60 people, Sussman said.