Edgehill Residents Donate Hand-Knit Hats to Kids for the Holidays

There was a special visit at the Children’s Learning Centers of Fairfield County (CLC) Friday, not from Santa’s sleigh, but from the loving hearts and hands of the residents of Edgehill.

For more than a decade, Edgehill residents have built a treasured, intergenerational friendship with the children at CLC, sharing stories, laughter and time that becomes treasured memories.

Knitting Acts of Kindness

With gentle care and patient stitches, Edgehill’s knitting group joined by many neighbors and volunteers crafted 70 cozy, hand-knit hats for the children. For the knitters, every loop and stitch was an expression of love and community spirit.

The residents distributed the gifts across several CLC classrooms, where the children expressed their gratitude by performing songs for their retired neighbors.

“We treasure the special relationship CLC has with Edgehill,” said Monica Maccera Filppu, CLC’s CEO reflecting on the deeper impact of these yearly visits. “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.”

A Meaningful Relationship

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.”

Stitched with Care

In the true spirit of the season, the generosity did not stop with the hats for CLC. Extra hats were shared with the Pacific House Emergency Shelter in Stamford, extending warmth and care to even more people in need.

At Edgehill, giving back is not just something residents do; it is part of who they are. These thoughtful gifts of warmth and connection stand as beautiful reminders that even the smallest acts of kindness can create some of the biggest smiles.