Linda Balzan with Loving Hands Loving Meals with some items that will be for sale at her table on November 28
Izzy Ocheltree and Judy Ault are working on chemo hats and toys for children.
Jan Strycker
The Needle Crafters of Robson Ranch have launched into a new adventure. We are partnering with Linda Balzan, a Robson resident, and her group known as Loving Hands Loving Meals.
Linda and t
o friends started a volunteer group from Palm Creek in June of 2014. Their mission is to help make the journey through cancer easier and tastier by preparing homemade fresh and nutritious meals and delivering them to patients who are dealing with any form of cancer. To date they have served over 1,000 meals in Casa Grande and surrounding areas. The meals are delivered to the Cancer Treatment Center of Casa Grande where all you have to do is sign up if you would like a meal.
After hearing of Linda’s work we invited her to our group to tell us about their outreach. She arrived with a basket full of her warm, just out of the oven artisan bread. It was a delicious sample of the bread she prepares for the meals. At the time we were busily knitting all sorts of chemo hats, and it didn’t take long for the light bulb to go on. Why not put our loving hands together.
We are happy to say that on November 28 Linda and her crew will be hosting a table at the Robson Craft Fair, and all proceeds from their sales will go toward the cost of purchasing ingredients for the meal preparations. At their table they will be selling handmade crafts of all kinds such as jewelry, glass fusion items, pottery, paintings and more including some of our needlework. The Needle Crafters are donating chemo hats of all sizes, lap blankets, shawls and some beautiful doilies that are reminiscent of a long lost art. We hope you, too, will want to join in by supporting Loving Hands Loving Meals by stopping by Linda’s table and picking up a gift for yourself or someone you care about.
One last note. If you enjoy any form of needlework and prefer to work at home, you can always donate what you create or any materials you have that need to be cleared out from your closet. Thursday mornings we meet from 9:00-12:00, come and go, at the Creative Arts Center so you can make a drop off or come in and join us. We welcome those interested from beginners on up. We hope to see you soon.