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The Hobby Craft Club donated more than 400 cloth hearts they made to be used by babies and their mothers in the NICU at Blank Children’s Hospital in Des Moines. Pictured in the front row, from left, Barb Collins, her granddaughter Sam Dewey, who is a nurse in the NICU at Blank Children’s Hospital and Sharon Depew. Back row, from left, Becky Caster, Becky Metz, Kathy Weatherly, Jacque Morkin, Kayann Lowry, Irene Williams and Marilyn Beard.
The Hobby Craft Club at the Marshalltown YMCA-YWCA donated more than 400 cloth hearts they made to Sam Dewey, a nurse in the NICU at Blank Children’s Hospital in Des Moines.
The hearts are used so the premature babies at the hospital can smell something that has the scent of their mother, especially if circumstances keep them from each other.
“We lay them by their face,” Dewey said when accepting the hearts from the group at the Marshalltown Y on August 22. “This is a way that they can still have that bond.”
Dewey is the granddaughter of Barb Collins, who is a member of the Hobby Craft Club at the Marshalltown Y.
The women of the club have been working on the hearts for months, with many made by Sharon Depew.
“It was a group effort,” Depew said.
Every mother who has a child admitted to the NICU receives these hearts in their admission package.
“It’s one of the first things the parents get,” Dewey said. “It is also something that’s a keepsake when they take the baby home.”
Dewey was very appreciative of the donation.
“It’s amazing for us,” Dewey said. “It’s a good feeling to be able to bring them back to them.”