Listen here:
For the fifth year in a row, busy students from the ‘Crocheting for a Cause’ Club based out of Twentynine Palms High School generously created and donated 77 scarves for anyone who might be chilly and in-need.
When Lisa Soliz, a Library Technician at 29 Palms High School, realized she was going to be a grandma for the first time, she resumed a craft habit she’d shared with her mother in the 70s, and started crocheting a baby blanket. After bringing her hooks and yarn to work on down time at school, the students got curious and begged to be taught. Soliz soon had so many students crocheting, they decided to make it official, and the ‘Crocheting for a Cause’ Club was born.
“Crochet has always been thought of – you know, grandmas and old lady crafts – but now it’s in fashion. And now it’s on the runway,” says Soliz. “These kids, they want to make their clothes, they want to make outfits, because they see it on TikTok or whatever. It’s actually making a comeback, I guess. It’s cool again.”
In the ten years since, the club has created and donated to the community hundreds of washcloths, baby beanies, and, of course, scarves. If you were hanging in downtown Twentynine Palms mid-December, you may have spotted a light pole or a bus bench adorned with a colorful scarf, just waiting to be claimed, with an invitation attached:
For You to Stay Warm: Please enjoy this scarf made by the Crocheting for a Cause Club at 29 Palms High School. Happy Holidays!
“We tie them on trees, on poles. Fold them, put them on benches, on the big huge rocks that are out there. We get permission from city to do that because technically, it’s littering!” says Soliz. “They give us a week to our items up, but they are usually by the first day, they’re all gone by the evening.”
Currently, the club has a dozen or so active members, both boys and girls, who report that the act of creating something with their hands has unexpected benefits.
“Many have said that it has calmed them down if they’ve been stressed or angry or worried, and they just feel so proud of themselves for making something and actually giving it,” says Soliz. “Our charity project, with the scarves, they get the act and the feeling of giving to others.”
