Little Hats, Big Hearts
Knitting Hats for Premature Babies
by Meagan Brady
Sunday, August 05, 2007
When her husband’s job called for a temporary move to Singapore, Sandy Simiskey knew exactly how she would pass the time. “I knew that I would need something to keep me busy during those two months,” she explains, “so I brought a couple of crochet hooks and a bit of yarn with me. Little did I know just how busy I would be crocheting and knitting preemie hats and encouraging nice ladies to do the same.”
Soon after arriving in Singapore, Sandy discovered that because of a high percentage of premature births, many hospitals in the area had a great need for the baby hats she crocheted in her spare time. Sandy organized a group of Relief Society sisters from the Toa Payoh ward to knit or crochet hats for the babies and deliver them to local hospitals. As her two-month stay stretched to more than eighteen months, Sandy’s hobby grew into a service project spanning at least ten countries.
The Relief Society sisters soon had more hats than the hospitals in Singapore could handle, so they looked for other hospitals in need. “We expanded to other countries by contacting other senior missionary couples. We found a great need in other Asian countries and the hospitals were most appreciative” says Elder Palmer, a missionary serving with his wife at the Asia Area Public Affairs office in Singapore. “No goals were initially set. We just wanted to fill a need at hospitals in Singapore. However, it is turning into wonderful service project, building testimonies and friendships, and blessing the lives of premature babies all over Asia.”
As part of the expansion, several of the hats were sent to the Philippines. “Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints came bearing bags and bags of knitted hats for babies and asked if our baby patients would benefit from them,” recalls Dr. Socorro Mendoza, Chair of the Department of Neonatology at the Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital in Manila. “I am not sure how they found out that we needed them.”
Hospitals use the hats to help premature babies conserve body heat. “The hats will contribute to their warmth and therefore calories for heat maintenance will be conserved and used by the body for growth and weight gain instead,” explains Dr. Mendoza. Conserving body heat is so beneficial that some hospitals resort to using the toes of men’s socks as hats, or even to wrapping the babies’ heads in plastic wrap.
The surprising growth of the service project prompted a local newspaper in Singapore to write a story about the project—a story that elicited interest from several members of the community. “We have been to the JTC government office to teach the secretaries and administrators during their lunch hour,” explains Elder Palmer, “and our key contact there asked us to come and next teach cooking classes after tasting the homemade treats we brought to the class.” Students in local schools are also participating in making the hats.
So far, more than five thousand hats have been crocheted or knitted and delivered to hospitals in Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, Korea, Cambodia, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines. An ever bigger success, however, has been the friendships that have been formed among those working on the project. “The Relief Society women are developing new friends and camaraderie with ladies of other faiths,” says Elder Palmer. “We have women of all walks of life coming to our church building to be taught. This project is an easy, comfortable way for people to learn about us, and we learn so much from them.”
Sandy Simiskey and her husband are returning to the United States shortly, but she won’t soon forget the time she has spent in Asia. “I am so grateful for the great opportunity that I have had here in Singapore to meet and get acquainted with so many nice ladies,” she says. “I now have over one hundred and fifty new friends.”
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