Making an Impact Around the Globe: Hats Off to San Francisco

At Amgen San Francisco, staff have formed a “tight knit circle.” This group of dedicated and talented volunteers is making hats and scarfs for Caps for Kids, an organization that provides hats for children facing life-threatening illnesses. Whether working at home or in their knitting circles, the team is making a big difference in the lives of children.

Part of the fun for the Amgen knitters is receiving notes from the children such as these:

“Thank you for the marvelest hat.”

“I was just going to freeze, but you gave us these comfy hats.”

“It is beautiful and I love that it was made by hand. I appreciate that you think about others and not just yourself.”

“Thank you for the cap. It is the thing that I never had.”

“It means a lot to see the responses of the children and know I can be an encouragement to them,” says Linda, who has been knitting with the group for 4 years. Other benefits of joining the group have been meeting her co-workers, improving her knitting skills and getting help with more advanced projects from experienced knitters.

About 15 knitters regularly work with either donated yarn or yarn they’ve purchased. “There’s always more yarn than time,” says Linda with a laugh. During one season the group held knitting classes for those who wanted to learn. They also encourage participation from knitters at other Amgen sites. “We always need more knitters,” says Linda. “These children really need these hats.”

Around October the team gathers all the knitted items and sends them to Caps for Kids to be distributed before the winter months. “Thank you to everyone for volunteering your time and energy in making the beautiful hats and scarfs,” says Mary who organizes the group in San Francisco. “Because of our team, we knitted a total of 191 hats and 17 scarfs last year!  This is the largest amount of items we’ve donated so far.”