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Grayce Caramer from Reedville, who’s been knitting for the group for five years, shows what she’s dropping off to Tricia Ennis and Lois Moore. (Photo by Jay Paul)
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From left: Lois Moore, President of From the Heart Board of Directors Tricia Ennis, Peggy Foster and Karen Runlet (Photo by Jay Paul)
Fifteen years ago, Lois Moore, who by her own admission “can’t sit still,” was rendered immobile for several weeks following foot surgery. As her recovery dragged on, she was running out of ways to combat boredom. Most of all, she missed working in her garden, which she considers her spiritual sanctuary; she enjoys the rewards that come from lovingly tending the earth.
One day while she was housebound and channel surfing, she saw a program featuring fifth-graders who were learning how to knit. “I thought if fifth-graders could do it, maybe I would try it,” Moore says. She got busy on the Internet and was amazed at the number of websites dedicated to the craft. After visiting an online forum where she received encouragement and how-to practical information, she felt ready to become a “knitter.”
In the spring of 2001, Moore and her friend Dana Peterson, who had a little more experience with knitting and crocheting, began meeting once a week at Starbucks in River Road Shopping Center II. Their nimble fingers and colorful skeins of yarn drew attention, and soon one of the baristas joined them after her shift ended. Curious others came, and as the weeks progressed, Moore discovered her confidence as a “stitcher” growing. By the fall of 2002, the two were 10-strong and had adopted a name for the group: From the Heart.
Lois Moore works on a blanket. (photo by Jay Paul)
Moore became a volunteer at Massey Cancer Center, where she began knitting “chemo hats” for patients who experienced hair loss due to cancer treatments, and warm blankets for those undergoing chemotherapy and radiation. The demand soon surpassed the supply, and when Virginia Cancer Institute opened in the spring of 2003, the knitters were hard-pressed to keep up. “We had to increase our needle speed,” Moore says. “Our goal was to supply a warm, gentle head covering to as many cancer patients in our area as possible.”
An outreach project came in the fall of 2002, when the group turned its attention to making baby outfits and blankets for the Head Start program in Wise County, Virginia, where there is always an urgent need for baby items in the hardscrabble Appalachian community.
Many Richmond-area newborn babies leave the hospital swaddled in blankets of the softest yarn, lovingly knit by From the Heart volunteers. “In talking with St. Francis Hospital, I learned they are birthing about 175 babies per month,” Moore says, “and Johnston Willis brings approximately 160 into this world.” Some of the stitchers groups also create special patterns for doll-sized hats, sweaters and booties to fit the tiniest patients, the preemie babies who begin life in the newborn intensive care unit at the Children’s Hospital of Richmond at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Through organizations such as Friends of the Homeless and the (former) Freedom House, Moore saw the plight of the homeless population in Richmond up close and welcomed the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of those who too often dwell in the shadows. From The Heart got busy fashioning sleeping bags from donated bedding. Warm hat and mitten sets were tucked into each bag. Other grateful recipients include the Hunter Holmes McGuire Veterans Administration Medical Center, which has received hundreds of crocheted blankets, hats, and scarf and mitten sets from the group.
Jacqueline Muoio drops off hats to Monica Joyner at the Westhampton Richmond Dialysis Center. (Photo by Jay Paul)
From the Heart also contributes wheelchair blankets, shawls, lap robes, hats, socks and slippers to hospice and palliative care programs at VCU Health, Bon Secours, and Compassionate Care Hospital in Chesapeake, among others. Warm blankets are welcomed by dialysis patients who must receive infusions for several hours at a time in a facility away from home; local police and pediatric emergency rooms keep on hand teddy bears wearing From the Heart hand-stitched clothing to soothe frightened children. Many area women’s shelters have one of the greatest needs met through the group’s handiwork, as often women leave an abusive domestic situation with nothing but the clothes on their backs and children in their arms.
What began as two friends sharing coffee, conversation and handiwork 15 years ago has blossomed into more than 25 groups with just over 1,000 members, ranging from age 6 to 99. Meetings are held in county libraries, churches, senior and retirement centers, Wegman’s, Panera Bread, and more.
Many of the early members still click their needles at Starbucks on River Road every Friday, and through the benevolence of a person who was moved by the group’s mission, there is now a shop in Richmond’s west end, at 1114 Westbriar Drive, where knitters can meet, work on projects and accept donations. The main room at the shop is large and cozy, with upholstered furniture and wooden rocking chairs — all of it donated. And not a minute too soon, Moore says, as the landslide of donated yarn and other supplies nearly pushed her out of her home. “At first I stored the supplies in my bedroom,” she reminisces, “then I moved them into the hallway, then into the kitchen, and finally into the two-car garage, which was no longer housing cars!”
The shop is open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. Please note that From the Heart does not sell yarn or finished items — it is a place to gather and knit, crochet and prepare items for donation delivery.
Moore says the welcome mat is always out for visitors at the shop. “We will teach anyone who wants to learn how to knit and crochet for free,” Moore says.
From the Heart Stitchers received 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation status in 2005 and depends solely on donations. “We have no income,” Moore says, “but our needs have always been met. Something always turns up.”
From left: Peggy Foster and Karen Runlet match donated knitting needles. (Photo by Jay Paul)
The hallway walls leading from the front of the store to the back workroom are completely covered in skeins of yarn of every color and thread content imaginable, some of it donated and others bought with monetary contributions. “People are so generous,” Moore says. “All of our yarns, hooks and needles are given to us.”
Moore expects the number of items made and donated to those in need since its humble beginnings in 2001 will hit close to 250,000 at the end of the year. She is amazed and at times overwhelmed at the success of the volunteer group that began with two friends and their yarn.
“The need has become great,” she says.
It all goes back to her garden: She believes tending the heart produces life’s richest rewards.
For more information about From the Heart, please visit fromtheheartstitchers.org or email Lois Moore at loisfth [at] me [dot] com.
