Knitters and crocheters in Newport Beach and across the US have warmed the heads and hearts of more than 100,000 chemotherapy patients through local charity, Knots of Love.
In a special ceremony Tuesday afternoon, Knots of Love founder, Christine Fabiani, handed over the bag containing the 100,000th cap to Pamela Hockett, director of nursing in cancer services, and other nurses in the Center for Cancer Prevention and Treatment at St. Joseph Hospital in Orange.
A group of about 20 volunteers, nurses, and supporters came out to the event. All the Knots of Love volunteers wore red, in honor of the charity.
The hospital was a special place for Fabiani, she said during the event, since it was one of the first hospitals the charity donated to when it started in June of 2007.
“Knots of Love has grown beyond my wildest imagination,” Faniani said. “It puts wind in my sails and a spring in my step to know that we’ve donated 100,000 caps to cancer centers.”
Hockett said the caps were truly special and that patients look forward to them. The special event was good timing as well, she added, since their basket of caps was empty.
“They really are made from love,” Hockett said.
After the ceremony, Fabiani headed down to the breast cancer wing of the hospital to refill the basket. A patient came up to her and expressed her gratitude for the caps. The patient, wearing a Knots of Love crocheted brown cap with a flower accent, told Fabiani that having something as simple as a hand-made cap really brightened her day when she first started getting chemotherapy treatments.
It’s stories like those, Fabiani said, that are the reason for making the caps.
“Knots of Love is community of passionate people spread around the country, who come together to warm the hearts and heads of those in need,” Fabiani said last month.
Knots of Love is a 501c3 non-profit charity that provides hand-made knitted and crocheted caps for those fighting cancer and other life threatening illnesses.
More than 1,000 volunteers knit and knot more than 3,000 caps each month, which are shipped to over 350 cancer treatment centers, infusion centers, hospitals and oncology offices in all 50 states, Canada, Mexico and overseas.
The charity also recently reached another goal, 5,000 caps donated to Veterans Affairs Cancer Centers by Veterans Day.
“I am so thankful and proud of how many lives we have touched and for reaching these milestones,“ Fabiani said. “This is truly wonderful.”
