Blanket fabric and yarn were scattered across tables at Saint Mary's Haggar College Center on Thursday night. The crafting supplies were a part of the Belles for Life spring kick-off event where students made baby blankets and hats for expecting mothers.
“We are making baby blankets and then knitting and crocheting baby hats. We are also making hearts for expecting mothers. We’re probably going to send them to a local center that works with women, especially expecting women,” sophomore Belles for Life president Kathryn Schneider said.
The event supports the club's mission, which is to help women. The group wants to make sure that these women know that they are supported by their community.
“First and foremost, we are a pro-life club. A big part of that is not just fighting against abortion, but also fighting for moms in need,” Schneider said. “Making sure that she has the support she needs when she finds out she is pregnant and to support her and her baby. A big part of what we do is making sure that moms in the area, especially South Bend and the tri-campus community, have the resources they need.”
Club treasurer and junior Jocelyn Porter said that she would love to do another event similar to this and produce even more supplies. Since the knitting and crocheting took a long time, the group didn’t buy a lot of supplies for the event. Instead, they focused on making as many items as they could during the allotted time.
“I personally do not know how long it takes to make these hats, I think around 45 minutes. We didn’t specify the amount of time to make the hats. I only bought materials to make five blankets just because it is a little time-consuming, but [hope to make] as many as possible,” Porter said.
Porter said attendance varies for the club's events, but for this event which required students to make hats and blankets, most people stayed until they completed their project. Students who are not able to attend afternoon events were able to participate in this event, which was held at night, Porter added.
“I feel like people usually stop in and out. This event is two hours long but it’s running so you can come at any time. I would say around 30 to 50 people attended,” Porter said. “There's usually a pretty good turnout and some of these faces here are new to me. I think we definitely get new people each time which is great.”
Junior Piper Ogden, who isn't a member of the club, but still enjoys attending events, feels that the initiatives and projects of Belles for Life, even if they might seem like small gestures, are beneficial to the community.
“One thing I think for the pro-life movement is that it's important that we take actionable steps. Even though it’s a simple thing to make blankets, I think it’s something that we know we’re doing and we’re going to make somewhat of a difference by being able to give someone a blanket,” Ogden said.
The club hopes to have more events like this one later in the semester. Even if not many people attend, they still see it as a positive thing the club can do for others and a way to give back to the community.
“I think just little service things like this are good. I mean even if this was a more regular thing I think people would do this,” Ogden said.
