BY KATHY CHANG
Staff Writer
WOODBRIDGE – Born out of the Virginia Tech University tragedy where a 23-year-old Virginia Tech senior shot to death 32 fellow students and faculty members on April 16 before killing himself, the shawl ministry group began at the Woodbridge YMCA.
“They say shawls are for comfort, like a hug,” said Lois Griffin, director of senior and community services, who started the shawl ministry about two months ago.
The YMCAs across the nation started forming shawl ministries when the YMCA branch on the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg started collecting shawls for the families and friends of the victims.
“Sherrill Rudy [executive director of the Woodbridge YMCA] found out about the shawl ministries on the YMCA USA network and brought the idea to me,” said Griffin. “I’m probably the perfect person to come to because I’ve been knitting off and on for the last 25 years.”
The shawl ministry at the Woodbridge YMCA is held every Wednesday from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the conference room. People must supply their own knitting needles and yarn.
“We will supply the kinship and the three-stitch seed pattern,” said Griffin. “In the fall, we will hold a shawl ministry in the evening as well as during the day. It is open to anyone and it doesn’t matter if you have never knitted before. The pattern is very basic; it’s called mindless knitting. People can purchase knitting supplies at Michaels or A.C. Moore.”
In 1998, Janet Bristow and Victoria Galo, two graduates of the 1998 Women’s Leadership Institute at The Hartford Seminary in Hartford, Conn., began the ministry as a result of their experience in the program of Applied Feminist Spirituality under the direction of Professor Miriam Therese Winter, M.M.S.
Griffin said members of the group are given the address where to send the shawls when they are finished.
“There is no pressure,” she said. “They can send their shawl off whenever they are finished.”
Each color of the shawl represents a different meaning. Griffin just finished making a purple shawl, which represents power, leadership, royalty, truth, justice, temperance, spirituality and wisdom. Other colors include violet, indigo, brown, beige, black, white, gold, silver, gray, teal, blue, turquoise, aqua, green, yellow, peach, orange, pink, magenta, maroon and red.
The three-stitch seed pattern was selected as a symbol of planting peace, healing, love, comfort and hope into the shawls by the shawl maker for the receiver.
Griffin said what appealed most to her about the shawl ministry group was the anonymous factor.
“I have no idea who is going to get this blessing,” she said. “I am trusting in the universe that anyone who receives this shawl would need it.”
Griffin said once the need for the shawls for Virginia Tech has been met, she would like to continue making shawls to send to a local shelter for battered women or any local place.
“We have the creative freedom to create this gift for someone who needs comfort,” she said. Griffin said buying her knitting supplies is similar to buying her five cups of Starbucks coffee. “It’s money well spent,” she said.
For more information on shawl ministries, visit www.shawlministry.com. For more information about the Woodbridge YMCA Shawl Ministry, call Lois Griffin at (732) 596-4053.