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Lisle groups help those in need regardless of the season

Touchdown for Charity and Poised for Success are two local groups that stretch their giving spirit beyond a single holiday.

All year long, groups of knitters and crocheters who travel from many Western suburbs meet in downtown Lisle at The Nook to share the camaraderie of doing their crafts together.

The array of items each person creates is remarkable. Some items are for personal use, others are available for sale in the store's consignment shop, but many more warm hats, gloves, scarfs and blankets are donated to charities.

The group calls itself Touchdown for Charity because its production can stretch the length of a football field.

The majority of the group's donated winter wear goes to Snug Hugs for Kids, a collection drive that Merlin 100,000 Mile Shops has led in the two months leading up to Christmas for the past 23 years throughout Illinois and Wisconsin.

Each year, the corporation collects and donates tons of warm winter clothing to children and families in need with the help of Children's Home and Aid. The Touchdown for Charity crafters are proud to help Snug Hugs keep children warm this winter.

The Lisle volunteers also make red preemie caps for newborns at Edward Hospital in Naperville and baby blankets for People's Resource Center in Wheaton.

Kitty Murphy and Tina Baker are the co-owners of The Nook, a yarn store. The two women turned their unusual store into a destination in downtown Lisle for Petersen's ice cream, soft drinks, teas, coffees, espresso and lattes. Cozy tables and board games invite visitors to sit awhile. An 18-foot wall of large glass jars display the hundreds of pieces of candy the store sells.

It's the kind of display that could making filling stockings hanging at the fireplace an easy task. Popcorn, malts, cookies and greeting cards are available at the store, too.

The Nook is a natural destination for individuals who want to sit and knit or crochet, take lessons, or ask a question or two of more experienced crafters. Walls near the long row of tables are lined with shelves of yarn in an amazing array of colors, blends and textures. Varied groups meet within the times of 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. for a few hours most days of the week.

Recently, one of the groups of women who knit and crochet at the store joined efforts to string along their items to stretch from the 50-yard line to the goal post on the football field at Lisle Junior High. It was a visual display of half of the amount of items the group will donate to charities this year.

Another 150 items already had been donated to Snug Hugs for Kids. All items were washed and prepared for donation.

"At The Nook, we are more focused on the community that knitting and crocheting builds than on just selling yarn, and that is why we have all this table space where people can come and enjoy the process together," Baker said.

"Our groups include beginners as well as very experienced knitters; we even have groups that did not start here but now enjoy coming."

The Nook's newsletter is at thenookinlisle.com. Donations of yarn for the store's charity bin help crafters continue to create for charities.

Meanwhile, the Lisle Convention and Visitors Bureau in Lisle collected an estimated 100 cleaned and pressed outfits in just October for Poised for Success, according to Diane Homolka, LCVB executive director. The bureau will continue its community project and collect suitable winter items until the first week in January.

Donations to the organization may include all the items that go into dressing a woman for business, including jewelry, purses, scarves and shoes. Receipts of donations are available.

"When you are out of work, you just do not have the means to buy clothing," Homolka said.

Since 2002, Poised for Success has helped roughly 1,000 women, according to its website, poisedforsuccess.org. The nonprofit organization provides free women's professional-looking clothing and accessories to women on financial assistance.

It relies completely on gently-used donations from the community and volunteers such as the LCVB that facilitate donations by being a drop-off location. Current needs are for clothing in sizes 0, 2, 14 and 22, especially white blouses.

Volunteers help each recipient with her selection of two complete outfits so she might appear at her best for a job interview and first week of work.

The mission of the group is to provide interview- and business-appropriate clothing to women in the job market at no cost to them. Referrals are made to other organizations that help women with resume writing and interview techniques.

Poised for Success serves women in Chicago and all its surrounding suburbs, including Lisle, Glen Ellyn, Lombard, St. Charles, Wheaton and Winfield. The organization is one that has women helping women who are grateful for the assist.

• Joan Broz regularly writes about Lisle in Neighbor.

Knitters and crocheters who practice their hobby together at The Nook yarn shop in downtown Lisle are calling themselves Touchdown for Charity because the items they've created to donate easily stretch the length of a football field. Courtesy of Joan Broz
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