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A true overachiever, no two of the items Ms Poole handcrafts and donates are the same.<\/p>\n
“It keeps your brain working because you’re always counting when you’re crocheting,” she said.<\/p>\n
The youngest of six children, Ms Poole said she grew up watching her mother crochet and motivated by a strong love for creating, the craft feels “natural”.<\/p>\n
In the new year, the beanies will be donated to Hope in a Suitcase, a not-for-profit organisation that works to provide children and young people across Australia who may be entering foster care or out-of-home care, with a suitcase of belongings they can call their own.<\/p>\n
Children entering foster care often bring with them a plastic bag of belongings, which then follows them to each placement.<\/p>\n
By providing these children with a suitcase filled with self-care items and other essentials, Hope in a Suitcase aims to send these young people the message that they are important and cared for by the community.<\/p>\n
It was Karen Coulson, the vice president of the Bellarine Women’s Network, who suggested the donation be made to the organisation.<\/p>\n
“I had a foster sister, and she came with a plastic bag of just her own items, so it’s nice for them to have something of their own,” Ms Coulson said.<\/p>\n
The Beanie Tree is complemented by the reappearance of big red bows at shopfronts in Portarlington, another annual festive initiative led by the PCA and the Portarlington\u00a0Community Bank.<\/p>\n
This year, the PCA donated the red tulle for the bows to traders along Portarlington’s central shopping strip to encourage them to get into the Christmas spirit, with $5 from each bow set to be donated to the Salvation Army’s Christmas appeal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
PORTARLINGTON’S crocheters and knitters have teamed up to again pay it forward this Christmas, handcrafting about 300 beanies for children and young people who are entering foster care or out-of-home care. Over the festive season, the beanies will be displayed at the Portarlington Community Bank in Newcombe Street in the striking shape of a Christmas […]<\/p>\n