Holmdel Knitting Club Keeps 74 Monmouth Families Warm This Winter

HOLMDEL, NJ - The Bayshore Hooks and Needles, a Holmdel-based knitting group aimed at community-focused initiatives, recently "adopted" 74 families from the Monmouth Day Care Center in Red Bank.

While the day care center identified potential families and provided a list with identifying ages and number of family members, the Bayshore Hooks and Needles got to work creating hats, headbands and blankets to match the requests. All the items were handed off to the residents last Monday, delivered in bags and boxes donated by Dearborn Market, Whole Foods and Fratelli's Restaurant.

Maddy Kalb of Middletown led the coordination effort, assisted by Patti Roberts of Hazlet and Roberta Sheridan of Middletown.

Founded eight years ago by Holmdel resident Pat Koziol, Bayshore Hooks & Needles boasts a tight-knit community of locals in Monmouth County. For the past two years, the group has been meeting at the Union Beach Memorial Library in a space allocated for over 25 members (a “satellite” group also meets at GreenBriar At Marlboro).

Although the group met outdoors during the warm weather at Veterans Park in Hazlet, the Hooks and Needles hope to return to the Union Beach Memorial Library in 2021. "We are meeting virtually via emails, texts and phone calls," said Koziol.

"It has been a challenge but we're doing the best we can under circumstances."

The group leader, who has always been involved in the non-profit sector, recalled forming the group in 2012 after noticing she had “too much free time and too much yarn”:

“We are not a 5013c non-profit, just a group of women who have come together and enjoy crocheting and knitting and helping others,” Koziol told Patch.

“My parents were active in non-profit organizations and thus I have been involved with non-profit organizations since my childhood. There’s always been a need to help those less fortunate than yourself.”

Earlier in the year, Jeanne Dischler of Hazlet, suggested that the women make "mask mates," or knit ear protectors, for the staff at Bayshore Health Care Center, alongside shawls and lapghans already donated. Mask mates were also given to Union Beach First Responders and the staff at the Red Bank Veterinary Hospital, Koziol confirmed.

For Veterans Day, Sophia Moglino, a junior at Holmdel High School, assisted the group by writing "Thank You For Your Service" notes, which accompanied donations of shawls and lapghans to the Veterans at Lyons VA Medical Center.

During the summer, baby hats and blankets were also shipped to the Riley Hospital in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Over the years, the group has made substantial contributions to Alaris Health-Kearney, Bayshore Family Success Center, Faith Chapel Union Beach, Grace United Methodist Church, Hackensack Meridian Health at Home, Laurel Bay Health and Rehabilitation Center, Monmouth Medical Center, Riverview Medical Center, Ronald McDonald House - Long Branch, Maternal Wraparound Program for Opioid Dependent Pregnant Women, Menlo Park Veterans Memorial Home, Trinitas Hospital, Union Beach School District, Vineland Veterans Memorial Home and United Way of Monmouth and Ocean Counties.

But the COVID-19 pandemic has brought a new challenge to the Holmdel-based club: Koziol says that, due to the ongoing health crisis, certain organizations are not accepting certain kinds of knit donations.

The group now welcomes donations of new, unused yarn or gift cards for the purchase of yarn.

Interested in donating unused, clean yarn or joining the Bayshore Hooks And Needles? Contact Pat Koziol at (732) 471-0475.

This story is part of Patch's Headlining Hope series, which profiles local nonprofits and charitable organizations in need of volunteers and resources. If you know about a local organization that should be profiled, contact nicole.rosenthal@patch.com.