Virginia Sanders and her little army of yarn artists are about to make Oglethorpe County EMT workers feel all warm and fuzzy on Saturday.
Sanders is the founder of Covered with Love, a Lexington-based nonprofit that makes handmade blankets, hats and scarves for special causes throughout Oglethorpe County and the surrounding region.
Oglethorpe County EMTs are this year’s deserving recipients of the nonprofit’s labors of love — 35 handmade afghans — which will be delivered to the county’s EMS headquarters at noon on Jan. 18.
“We were going through who to do next, and I said, ‘You know what? We have a lot of EMTs and they don’t get recognized a whole lot,” Sanders said.
Each year, Covered with Love picks a new project to dedicate its efforts to. In the nine years since the group’s founding, membership has grown from three volunteers to 32, and the fiber artists have donated handmade projects to nursing homes, foster children, public school workers, children’s hospitals, the Sheriff’s Office and more.
Each afghan can take months to make, and it has taken the group’s crocheters and knitters two years to finish 35 adult-sized blankets for Oglethorpe County EMTs.
“It’s a sense of accomplishment to know that somebody is going to be enjoying something I made,” said Lisa Summers, Covered with Love volunteer and treasurer. “I really enjoy it and get a lot out of it as far as that sense of accomplishment and giving back to the community. It feels good.”
Covered with Love meets at Lexington Baptist Church on the first Thursday and third Saturday of every month. Visit the “Covered with Love Lexington Ga” Facebook group for more.
This year, the group has its sights set on the patients of the pediatric unit at Piedmont Athens Regional for its next project. Volunteers will be crocheting and knitting hats and afghans for Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and pediatric oncology patients throughout the year.
For nearly a decade, these handmade goods have been spreading warmth and joy to causes throughout Oglethorpe County, and as much good as Covered with Love has done for the community, volunteers say it’s been equally as rewarding for them.
Renee Gardner was new to crocheting when she attended her first Covered with Love meeting years ago at the encouragement of her husband, who was sick at the time. Since that first meeting, Gardner’s husband has since died, and she said joining the group was one of the best decisions she’s ever made.
“That group has been a lifesaver,” Gardner said. “Because when my husband was sick, he encouraged me to go to the group. I’m a loner, and I finally went and Virginia and I are now best friends. It’s awesome.”
Gardner counts Sanders as her first friend, and it all started with crochet. Now, she and other Covered with Love volunteers are surrounded by a group of women who all care and look out for one another.
Sanders said they have members drive from as far as 45 minutes away to come to meetings where the ladies work on their projects and enjoy each other's company at the Lexington Baptist Church.
Now, members even get together to hang out for lunch or just to catch up. Sanders calls every member every two weeks to remind them about upcoming meetings.
The calls are moments where she can connect deeper with the other women in the group.
“It’s just a wonderful group for strengthening your belief in God, and strengthening your ability to get out and have fun,” Gardner said.
Alex Perri is a master’s student in journalism at the University of Georgia. She previously worked at the Transylvania Times in Brevard, North Carolina.