Local Retirees Donate Hand-Knit Hats to Kids for the Holidays

Stamford, Conn. – There was a special visit at the Children’s Learning Centers of Fairfield County (CLC) Friday, not from St. Nicholas but from the residents of Edgehill, the continuing care retirement community adjacent to CLC’s Palmers Hill Location. Members of the Edgehill knitting group brought about 70 hats that they and other members of the community made for the children. They handed out the gifts in several CLC classes, and the children also performed songs for their retired neighbors.

“We treasure the special relationship CLC has with Edgehill,” said Monica Maccera Filppu, CLC’s CEO. “These intergenerational connections help the children’s social development, and the hats they received remind them that their friends from next door truly care about them.”

Edgehill residents regularly visit CLC to read books and play games with the children and have collected school supplies for the classrooms. The connection goes back more than a decade, and the community looks forward to the holiday celebration each year.

“Nothing can quite match the joy these children have when we visit and bring them their gifts,” said Barbara Berk, who led the Edgehill knitters in this project. “We have many volunteers outside our regular knitting group who make hats for the kids because they know how much it means to CLC and the children.”

In addition to the hats donated to CLC, the knitters also made hats to donate to the clients of Pacific House Emergency Shelter in Stamford.