Hats Created by Church Members Lift Cancer Patients’ Spirits

WARE — The George Whitefield Methodist Church in West Brookfield is a busy parish. In addition to Sunday-morning services, church members are involved in many community events, hold many suppers, and have an active Faithful Friends Women’s Group that meets monthly. In addition, church members recently donated more than 50 knitted hats to the Baystate Regional Cancer Program at Baystate Mary Lane for patients undergoing cancer treatment.

Jane Dolan, who helped handcraft the hats in a variety of sizes, colors, and yarns to suit both men and women, explained that “we began thinking about people living in our community that were going through chemotherapy, and just kept knitting.” 

The hats displayed in the Oncology waiting room have been greatly appreciated by patients and their families, said Dolan, noting that each hat took a few hours to complete.

“As patients go through the ordeal of chemotherapy and losing her hair, the hats are another way to let them know that others are thinking about them,” said Camille St. Onge, Oncology social worker in the Baystate Regional Cancer Program at Baystate Mary Lane. “While the hats keep them warm, these thoughtful, handmade gifts also become part of the healing process.”

Added Dolan, “one of the most precious gifts we can give to a cancer patient is our gift of time. We hope our hats will provide each person that wears them with special feeling of support and warmth.”