The Web of Hope Stretches Far and Wide

This article appears courtesy of FiftyPlus magazine

Hope does, indeed, spring eternal, and in the case of the Web of Hope, it springs prolific as well.

Photo by Al Wekelo

The Web of Hope is a volunteer organization comprising more than 350 craftsmen from the Richmond, Fredericksburg, Charlottesville and Port Royal, Va., areas. In association with the Greater Richmond Chapter of the American Red Cross, the Web has provided some 24,000 handmade garments and toys to needy children and adults in Bosnia, Belarus, Turkey, Greece and Kosovo. And locally the group crafts for the Premature Infant Unit at the Medical College of Virginia, McGuire Veterans Hospital, Eastern State Mental Hospital, the Bland Ministry Center, and the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

The Web of Hope began eight years ago in answer to a plea for help from earthquake ravished Romania. Nancy Ketner, coordinator and founder, was at that time a Red Cross volunteer and a beginning knitter. Ketner received a letter from Bucharest, Romania that described schools with crumbling walls, no heat, and cold children. While she knew there was nothing she could do to repair the walls, Ketner did know that she could knit sweaters to keep the children warm. She solicited help from other knitters, thus spinning the first strand in the Web of Hope.

Photo by Al Wekelo

Modest Beginnings
From its meager beginnings as a small knitting circle, the Web moved on to become the first group in the United States to receive (in 1994) the prestigious International Humanitarian Award from the American Red Cross. It has expanded its membership to allow those who crochet, weave, and sew to work alongside those who knit. According to Ketner, "If you can make it, we will find a home for it."

Since last January, the organization's volunteers have already made and distributed more than 1,800 items: caps, scarves, sweaters, mittens, dresses, blankets, vests, lap robes, and teddy bears.

Photo by Al Wekelo

There's always someone in need of something, and that something doesn't always spring from a set of knitting needles. Just ask Imperial Plaza group members Eva Foster and Martha Nelson. Foster's knitting is limited because of sight restrictions, but that doesn't keep her from donating her hand-woven shawls to the Web.

From Honduras to Coal Country
As for Nelson, she still knits but also sews. In 1997 she donated fifty-one handmade dresses, which were shipped to a Honduran orphanage and to a ministry center in Virginia's coal-mining country. Nelson says she enjoys the work, and she also enjoys the fellowship provided by the group at Imperial Plaza.

Not every product is expected to be perfect, nor every craftsman to be a professional. Take Louise Creeger for example. Sandwiched between two lifetime knitters, Creeger chuckles as she tells how she became of member of the Web of Hope.

Photo by Al Wekelo

"When I was in college, sixty years ago, I did some knitting when I sat in music-appreciation courses. I never finished anything. The minute I graduated, the knitting went into a basket, and I never picked it up again — until about two years ago, when someone invited me into the group.

"I told her that I wasn't a knitter; that I didn't know a thing about it. And what did she do, she offered to teach me."

A Ribbon for Cedarfield
Creeger is now a regular member of the Cedarfield Knitters, a group that in 1997 won a blue ribbon at the State Fair of Virginia for a collective afghan they submitted to the Handwork for Seniors Competition. That afghan, as are all winning entries, was donated to the Red Cross, which in turn gave it to the Women and Children's Emergency Shelter, once again allowing the Web of Hope to share their efforts with someone in need.

Such efforts and the dedication of the Web of Hope is best summarized in the words of founder Ketner.

"When we lovingly share our hopes, they wind together like multi-colored yarn so that the world is a lovelier place for all. The desire to share with those in need is what lies at the center of the Web of Hope, and from that center each member spins her own strand of fellowship, fun, and caring."

These strands are what make it possible for the Web of Hope to stretch across the globe and achieve the group's goal of a lovelier world for all.

Since last January, the organization's volunteers have already made and distributed more than 1,800 items: caps, scarves, sweaters, mittens, dresses, blankets, vests, lap robes, and teddy bears.

"If you can make it, we will find a home for it."