An eight-year-old girl from Chatham is using her love for knitting as a way to help others.
Eden Koomans received a knitting loom kit last Christmas and according to her mother, Cathy Koomans, the young girl quickly fell in love with the hobby. After knitting a hat for herself and sister, Eden wanted to continue making hats but wasn't sure what to do with them. That's when she got an idea.
"We went over to the Chatham-Kent Hospital and went over up to the pediatric ward, remembering that when my girls were little they each received a hat from the hospital," said Cathy. "So, [Eden] asked if they wanted to get some hats that she was making and they said they would be interested. That's kind of where it started."
Eden first got an interest in knitting when she saw her aunt making socks. Since receiving her own knitting kit nearly a year ago, Eden has been working on creating the hats and recently finished her 20th one, which was the goal she had set for herself. On Sunday, Eden and Cathy went to the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance to deliver the hats to newborn babies in the pediatric wing.
"They thought it was pretty neat, especially for a girl who's eight years old to be interested in doing something like that," said Cathy. "The hats that she made turned out pretty polished and pretty finished, something that I think anybody would be happy to get as a gift."
Cathy said it wasn't totally shocking to see her daughter take on such a big initiative to give back to others, but she was still amazed to see someone so young remain dedicated and passionate to a goal.
"She's always been pretty kind-hearted so it didn't really surprise me. I think the fact that she stuck with it for a year maybe surprised me. It was a lot of work that went into it," said Cathy. "She also made some of the hats with money that she got for her birthday, which was a pretty proud moment for me that she wanted to spend the $20 she got from grandma to make the hats."
Eden said she hopes to continue on with similar initiatives in the future as well as continuing her passion for knitting.