Volunteers knit thousands of hats each year for babies born at Twin Cities hospital
MAPLE GROVE, Minn. — At Maple Grove Hospital, every newborn goes home with a gift almost as precious as they are: a handmade knit hat.
Judy Brossard had no idea how large an undertaking it would be when she and two friends were approached 15 years ago to knit a hat for every baby born at the hospital.
"We would get a call from the hospital saying, 'Is anybody working on a hat at home that you can get done because we've got mothers in labor and we don't have enough hats,'" Brossard said.
In need of more recruits, Knitting Grandmas & Friends was born. Last year, more than 5,300 babies were born at the hospital. That's just more than 14 per day.
"There's never two hats alike," Brossard said.
The group's roster is now 100 members to keep up, with 20 to 30 of them meeting at the Maple Grove Community Center every Monday afternoon. Colleen Curtis is chair of the volunteer effort.
"I think it's very important, and it gives all of us a sense of purpose," Curtis said.
Stitch by stitch, each hat can take three to four hours to make. Members drop off a variety of hats they've been working on at home, start new projects and socialize.
"We just have such a good time getting acquainted, supporting each other," Brossard said.
On this day they celebrated a new milestone: 67,000 baby hats. They also had a visit from Kirby Kowalke, one of their new recipients.
"We wanted to say 'hi' and say 'thank you' for the hats," said mom Abby Kowalke.
Last month, the hospital made an appreciation post for the knitters on Facebook, leading to hundreds of comments from thankful families and plenty of pictures of their newborns in the hats.
"Brought tears to my eyes, because it's just very, very special," Brossard said. "It's good for the soul to know that at this age we are still contributing to something that is simple to do and yet means so much to families."
Maple Grove Hospital sponsors the group and provides funds for the yarn used.
Knitting Grandmas & Friends also give back through a program at the Shakopee Women's Correctional Facility.
