Rhodes Ranch club knits unity

The Rhodes Ranch Women's Club recently held a yarn drive to benefit Child Haven, The Shade Tree, the Las Vegas Rescue Mission and the Salvation Army. The donated materials will then be used in conjunction with a service project that originated with Accent People and the Jean Conservation Camp, a women's correctional facility in Jean, Nev.

Donna Fish, a friend of Laura Canale, vice president of the Rhodes Ranch Women's Club, mentioned working with the facility in Jean where inmates crocheted items for the less fortunate in the valley. According to Canale, the members of the Rhodes Ranch Women's Club thought the idea fit into the club's mission perfectly.

"We set a modest collection goal of 100 skeins of yarn for this fundraiser," Canale said. "We have exceeded that goal with nearly 200 skeins already delivered to Jean Conservation Camp..."

Canale said Fish and members of her nonprofit organization, Accent People, worked with the warden, associate warden and chaplain of the correctional facility. The inmates were given a bag of yarn and crochet hooks to work on the items assigned to them. Women within the facility taught others how to crochet so they too could participate in the project.

"This is such a wonderful project because it involves many different people coming together to fill a big need in our community," Canale said.

The Women's Club meets every Wednesday. Residents interested in joining should contact the recreation center at 736-1796 for dates of upcoming meetings.