Individuals served at BHN The Carson Center’s Adult Community Clinical Services, or ACCS, program are dedicating their time to an important cause – creating items out of yarn to donate to local non-profits.

Calling themselves “The Yarn Buddies,” the group meets weekly to work on various knitting, crocheting, and needlepoint projects, both for their own enjoyment and for the benefit of the Westfield community. The group was started about eight years ago by Kathy Coache, an administrative assistant at ACCS who previously owned a knitting and crocheting shop. Initially, the group was only meant to provide an outlet for mindfulness and relaxation. But with the vision of one of the group’s regular members, Diane Gore, The Yarn Buddies soon took on the role of helping the community.

Diane is very passionate about making donations to those in need, and her dedication to helping the less fortunate led the group to begin making regular donations of a wide range of items made by the group. The group’s central project is the creation of ‘comfort dolls,’ which they distribute to local organizations, such as women’s and homeless shelters. The group has also made blankets for nursing homes and homeless shelters; mats for the homeless to sit on; and hats, mittens, and scarves for children in the winter.

The work done by The Yarn Buddies has already touched dozens of people in the Westfield community. The group’s comfort dolls are very popular among children, and the knowledge that their work is helping those in need has kept the group going strong for many years.

“You never know when a child is going to come in to one of these places,” Kathy says. “This is something that can really make a difference for them.”