Waterfall mom knits community spirit together
With the help of social media, Laura Cullum helped share the warmth to hundreds in need this winter with her ongoing beanie campaign.
WATERFALL resident and avid knitter, Laura Cullum sent out a plea over social media for Highway residents to join in on her outreach project by knitting up a storm and helping share some warmth this winter.
Since early July, hundreds of beanies have been distributed across the Durban area to those in need. The 44-year-old only started knitting in June and has lost count of the number of goodies she has created for those in need. It was the El Gibbor’s Feeding Scheme’s need for more beanies than what was initially donated that spurred her on as her initial requests were for knitters to help out if she purchased the wool.
“There is always a great need for beanies at winter time, whether it’s for the homeless, old age homes, underprivileged schools or babies in hospitals,” she said. “I have knitted as many (beanies) as my fingers could cope with over the last few months, but the community has come together and hundreds of beanies have been given to me to donate to various sections.”
Her donations were first given to the El Gibbor Kitchen 3610 in Pinetown and an old aged home in Waterfall through the society, Black Crayons Pink Dreams. She then received a request from Angels Care KZN for beanies that would be donated to an informal settlement.
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“At this point, I also received a request through El Gibbor for premature baby beanies for hospitals. I then put the request out to the neighbourhood and on Facebook. People all over said they had beanies of all sizes to donate or they would knit or crochet for me. I then received a few hundred beanies from Baby Hope House, a large amount was given to City Hill Waterfall Church for their community needs and dozens of kind community members, stretching from Glenwood to Summerveld, have dropped off donations and given their time,” said Cullum.
She has worked in community outreach since 2005 and said it has only continued to bring her joy to help those in need and foresees this to be a never-ending project.
“Anybody can get involved as these societies do not just need beanies or clothes, they need a warm plate of food and, often, the easiest way to help is by donating funds directly to the associations. I can help with information of societies as well,” she said.
When she is not collecting, knitting or collating donations, she looks after her 25-year-old son who has cerebral palsy as well as her husband, who is medically boarded.
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“My time is kept busy with my son’s care as well as my younger son’s education. I attend church group weekly and always enjoy a cup of tea and cake out with the family,” she smiled.
She offered a big thank you to the project’s supporters.
Caxton Local Media Covid-19 reporting
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