22
Joy of Medina County Magazine | October 2021
COMMUNITY: GEMS
Softness of Love by Kent Von Der Vellen The inspiration for Knitting for Cancer came from when Jennifer Bystricky took care of her mother, Linda Coffman, during her three-year fight with cancer. Many cancer patients lose their hair and wear a hat for comfort and looks. The hat helps them keep warm, but a side effect of the treatment and disease is extreme skin sensitivity. This sensitivity would cause Coffman to not wear a hat because it was uncomfortable. Coffman’s skin became so sensitive that even pillowcases were uncomfortable to her. Coffman received a hat as a gift from the hospital, but it was so uncomfortable she could not wear it. Bystricky decided to find a solution. Bystricky visited a fabric store and rubbed yarns on her forearm to test them for softness. She would end up testing every yarn to determine the right one to make a cap that would not aggravate the sensitive skin on her mother’s head. Once she picked the yarn, Bystricky’s next step was to learn to knit. She turned to videos on the internet to learn. She spent hours watching, pausing and rewinding videos as she learned to knit. She then bought a loom to make a hat for her mother. Coffman wore the hat for the next two years, before she died in April 2016. A couple of years passed, and Bystricky was knitting and feeling sad. The more she knitted, the more she thought about her mother, and the sadder she felt. Then she realized that she could help other cancer patients the way she had helped her mother. As part of her job, Jennifer attended local networking events, and while there, she found herself talking about knitting the caps for cancer patients. People began volunteering to help or letting her know of someone who could benefit. Knitting for Cancer became Bystricky’s full-time passion and grew from one person knitting to an organization with more than 80 volunteers in five states and three countries. Senior communities have become involved in making the caps
and lap blankets. Inmates at Grafton prison also help. One inmate leads a group that crochets critters for young cancer patients through the Akron Ronald McDonald House. In two-and-a-half years, Knitting for Cancer has given handknitted hats to 9,000 cancer patients and is working to find more to help. Each patient receives a tote bag with a cap and a lap blanket. For more information, to donate, or to volunteer, visit the organization’s website https://bit.ly/3tikFm4 or go to https:// bit.ly/2YxGpPL . Kent Von Der Vellen is a 20-year Medina resident. He has been a volunteer for various youth sports teams, is a member of the Medina Lions Club, and, with his wife, Kim, founded the Jakob F. Von Der Vellen Memorial Foundation. Contact Von Der Vellen by e-mailing Gems@BlakeHousePublishing.com or by calling 330-421-0863. Learn what other area nonprofits need by visiting Giving Hearts under the Help tab at https:// www.joyofmedinacountymagazine.com/ . Knitting for Cancer 3399 Tyler Drive Brunswick, Ohio 44212 T 330-441-6907 Web address: Date of formation: 03/15/2019 Organization type: 501(c)(3) Description of Organization’s Purpose: Providing comfort items to cancer patients through knitted hats and blankets Is the organization's registration status current? Yes The financial information below is from the organization’s most recent filing within the on-line system. If the items below are blank, the organization has not yet filed information on-line or they may be exempt from filing an annual report. Reporting Year: 2019 Reporting Start Date: 1/1/2019 Reporting End Date: 12/31/2019 Total Revenue: Total Expenses: Total Program Expenses: Percent of Total Expenses: Total Assets:
