I’m CSPC member Mary Carson Rochelle, and this is how I’m living deeply through a ministry God prompted me to start. It’s called Hands and Hearts, and CSPC helps promote and support its work.  

“I watched Christy, the young daughter of my friends Jamie & David Hahn, go through chemo and the progression of her treatment for cancer. She lost her hair, which was devastating for a beautiful young girl. They bought hats everywhere! She went into remission, and we hoped it would last, but it didn’t. It came back with a vengeance, and she passed away. That was more than 30 years ago, but it shattered me in a lasting way, left a mark deep within. When I saw how devastating it was to a 12-year-old girl to lose all her hair, it just convicted me. I realized there are many, many children going through this. How could I help them emotionally? I just felt like I needed to do something. Then I thought, ‘I can make hats. There are lots of children who need hats.’ That’s ultimately how our Hands and Hearts ministry started at CSPC. It didn’t happen immediately. Life got busy, and it took a while before I had the time to devote to this effort God had birthed in my heart. But nine years ago, it finally got off the ground. I started teaching CSPC women to knit hats and blankets for East Tennessee Children’s Hospital. What I’d found out blew my mind: Children’s distributes an average of 190 hats a week. After every chemo treatment, children get to go to what they call a ‘hat wall’- a wall covered with hats of all sizes, colors, and shapes. That child can choose whatever hat they want. They also give knitted hats to frightened children during procedures (the hats, after all, are soft and squishy and comfortable – something to hold onto when they’re scared). To date, we’ve donated thousands of hats through Hands and Hearts. But if they’re distributing 190 a week, we desperately need to do more.

In 2024, I discovered that the need went well beyond pediatric cancer patients. As the team from the hospital guided me on a tour of the NICU, I learned that unit also had extensive needs for sewn items: blankets, quilts, sheets, burp cloths, swaddles. The NICU is a separate entity with specific fabric requirements. During my hour-and-a-half tour, I wasn’t prepared for what happened. 11 nurses were standing around the nurses’ station holding up items, saying, ‘We need this,’ ‘We need this.’ I took measurements and noted fabric requirements, then returned three weeks later with completed blankets, hats, and sheets for the NICU. They normally care for 40-45 patients on any given day but had over 60 at the time. The need for more blankets than the hospital can easily stock was overwhelming. As I took the tour, I just left the blankets sewn by CSPC women on a table. I didn’t know who they’d be given to. But suddenly this dad comes up to me with tears in his eyes and asks, ‘Did you bring those things in?’ When I said yes, he said, ‘Thank you. I cannot tell you how much this brightens our day- because we’re inside these very plain walls of the hospital room all day long, for weeks.’ The look on that man’s face – I will never forget it. I told him he could have any blanket he wanted on that table. That, along with the nurses’ responses, told me we needed to expand our reach to include the NICU, as well as other parts of the hospital where older children up to age 18 receive treatment. And we have! We’ve now made 5,600 hats, 432 blankets, 730 quilts, 262 ‘lovies’, and 497 other items; many for families in the NICU, most since February 2024. Pat Scott from Children’s Hospital told me: ‘I cannot begin to tell you what a financial burden Hands and Hearts takes off the hospital, while it also provides so much joy to the families. Thank you for investing your time, talent and treasures in Children’s Hospital.’ About 90% of what we make is given to the child one time, and they keep it forever. Whatever it is -a blanket, sheet, swaddle- the next patient also needs one. We pray over every item when we finish it, asking God to help and bless the child who receives it.

God opened these doors- I have no doubt whatsoever. He’s using the talents I’ve developed over the years. He’s got me exactly where he wants me. If we as human beings, much less Christians, cannot help the most defenseless creatures on this earth, who are we? These babies, these children, they desperately need help. And so do their parents when they’re going through such a tough time. So it’s about meeting a vital need. But there’s even more good that comes out of it than that- this ministry has created incredible bonds among our women. We meet monthly on Monday nights, and I have watched as wonderful friendships have developed. Women who’ve been isolated for whatever reason find usefulness again. One woman told me she hadn’t knitted in 25 years- she called me back after getting started, saying, ‘I finished two hats. I am ready to do some more. I had forgotten how much I enjoy this.’ Two weeks later: ‘I made 20 more. I’m really enjoying this, and I feel useful again.’ Another benefit: It is a known fact that the repetitive motion of knitting & crocheting has a calming, relaxing effect. We have all ages- even high school girls who get together on their own and knit. But I desperately need more help. Right now I have about 39 women- it’s not enough. I also need fabric donations and yarn donations. The NICU fabric costs $17 a yard, and it takes more than a yard to make one blanket. Even if you don’t want to join us in knitting, maybe you have fabric tucked away in a corner of your home that you haven’t thought about in a while. We’ll take it! One woman recently donated a carful of fabric worth $700-800 that she’d accumulated over the years. Such a blessing!

We’ve been doing this for nine years, and we’re not stopping. To sum up, the purposes of this ministry are threefold: 1) Help meet the needs of the hospitalized children and their families. 2) Improve the morale of the families and the hospital staff. 3) Provide fellowship for the ladies involved, while also providing a pathway to the church. It has been a joy and a pleasure to see how God has blessed this ministry. These 39 women truly serve with their hands and hearts by creating and donating so many items for the children of East Tennessee. Moving forward, God will continue to guide us, and it will be very exciting to see what we can accomplish through Him! But as I said, we need more help! If you want to join us, email handsandhearts10@gmail.com. If you don’t know how to knit or crochet, we’ll teach you. You don’t even have to come to meetings- just donate your time and talent. I guarantee you the Lord will use it powerfully. As Cheryl Allmon from the hospital says: ‘Your beautiful handmade gifts wrap our patients in warmth, comfort, and love.’ Just like God does for each and every one of us, His children.”