BERLIN – A Berlin store on Main Street is collecting handmade baby blankets that will be donated to a Washington, D.C., hospital.
A Little Bit Sheepish owner Brenda Trice is asking for the community’s support after learning the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Children’s Hospital in Washington, D.C., is in need of baby blankets.
Trice said her great nephew, Grayson, was born prematurely in early January and is currently being treated in the hospital’s NICU for the next couple of months.
It was through her niece that Trice learned the hospital’s NICU had a large supply of knitted and crocheted hats, but very few baby blankets.
“We’ve been praying and asking what things we could do to help,” she said.
“His momma texted me one day last week and said the NICU at Children’s (Hospital) likes to give hats and blankets to the preemies. They had plenty of hats, but they were running very low on blankets.”
Since then, Trice has started to knit baby blankets for the hospital and has utilized knitting groups and the store’s Facebook page to garner support.
“With Facebook, I could get followers who aren’t even local to jump in and help,” she said.
Trice posted a message on the store’s Facebook page late last week asking for people to donate either knitted or crocheted baby blankets. As of Tuesday, her request has reached more than 12,000 people.
“This is the widest-reaching post I’ve ever had,” she said.
Trice is encouraging individuals to donate completed blankets by offering a discount on yarn at her store. If a customer buys yarn to make a blanket, A Little Bit Sheepish will give a 10 percent discount. Those who return finished blankets will receive an additional 10 percent off their next yarn purchase.
“It encourages people not only to start the project, but to finish it,” she said.
While the NICU has no size or fiber requirements, Trice said the blankets must be machine washable and dryable.
“It has to be a fiber that can be machine washed and dried,” she said, “but whether you knit or crochet it’s all welcome.”
Trice explained the blankets will not only benefit the infants, but their parents as well.
“It’s just nice to have things of his own that we can take home,” Trice’s niece wrote in a text message. “It sounds a little crazy, but being able to take that blanket home to wash and bring it back for him to use again makes us feel like we are doing something for him since we can’t do that much yet. It’s really the little things.”
Since starting the project, Trice has found that other areas of the hospital, such as the cardiac intensive care unit, are also in need of baby blankets.
“I think it’s an ongoing need and I think this is something they can use,” she said. “The blankets we can collect will be put to good use.”
Trice said A Little Bit Sheepish will continue to collect knitted and crocheted blankets so long as people are willing to donate.
“I’ll keep collecting them as long as somebody wants to bring them, and I’ll make sure they get to Children’s Hospital,” she said. “We’ll donate them in Grayson’s honor.”
Individuals wishing to donate completed blankets can do so by visiting A Little Bit Sheepish at 2 S. Main St. in Berlin. Trice said there will be no deadline for donations.
For further information, contact A Little Bit Sheepish at 410-641-1080 or visit the store’s Facebook page.
“It’s always good to feel like you are a part of something greater than yourself,” Trice said. “I think we can all empathize with those parents that find themselves in this situation. We are always asking what can we do to help. This is a concrete way to help.”
