On November 12th, the Crochet Club announced that it is offering community service hours to students who participate in specified club projects. Members can now crochet hearts for The Peyton Heart Project or props for the Fort Drama Department.
After being approached by Fort’s Equity and Restorative Justice Coordinator Ms. Rivera, the Crochet Club decided to participate in The Peyton Heart Project. Students will crochet hearts with inspirational messages and place them around the community for others to find.
The club was also contacted by drama teacher Mx. Shields, who requested help with set design for their upcoming spring drama production, Little Shop of Horrors. Ms. Ballback, Crochet Club supervisor and art teacher, suggested that the club could help out by crocheting vines. Ms. Ballback brought these opportunities to the club’s e-board, who requested that participating in these projects would count as community service hours.
Since the drama production is not until April, the club’s current focus is teaching members how to crochet hearts. The Peyton Heart Project was founded to spread awareness about suicide, bullying, and other mental health issues.
“It seemed like a cool thing to do with the Crochet Club to promote anti-bullying,” Ms. Ballback said.
The members of the club see this project as a good opportunity to help the community while doing something they love. Samantha Perez, Crochet Club secretary, who has past experience crocheting scarves and socks for churches, recognizes the significance of positively impacting the community through crochet.
“I hope [the community service] helps inspire other people to crochet,” Perez said.
Perez’s vision has already come to fruition, as Lamar Abdulla, a new junior member of the Crochet Club, started to learn how to crochet after the community service hours were announced. Because of her inexperience, she has decided to not participate in The Peyton Heart Project, but will crochet vines for the drama production.
The drama department’s stage crew members are grateful for the help because they are often overwhelmed with work when production dates near. Olivia Sutera, a junior on the stage crew, expressed her gratitude for the Crochet Club’s help.
“Having additional hands to help make props would really help the production a tremendous amount,” Sutera said.
Outside of helping others, The Crochet Club sees the community service opportunities as a way to expand the club. Even Alexa Ramirez, junior treasurer of the club, views the community service hours as a motivator to improve her crochet skills. She attended Crochet Club last year and noticed this spark not only in herself, but in the club’s attendees.
“We started last year and there were very few people,” Ramirez said. “After we started talking about community service, [the club] exploded.”
Members are also starting to brainstorm more crochet projects to help the community further. Jaida Yim, junior President of the club, has taken the lead on planning future crochet activities.
“I hope that we can expand on what we can make and offer through our club like bigger projects and donating more often,” Yim said. “We could donate blankets, clothes, toys, and accessories to those in need or less fortunate.”
Although these projects are still in the works, the crochet club members have high hopes for the future and are dedicated to impacting the community in a positive way. The members noted how crochet has benefitted them—helping their mental health, calming them down, and serving as physical therapy—and hope it can help others as well.
“I think it’s really special that we can help the community through something that we love to do,” Yim said.
