(Photos courtesy WestSide Baby)

Volunteering is often described as “lending a hand.” A multigenerational group of women did just that today at WestSide Baby in honor of National Volunteer Week. Among them: centenarian and “knitter extraordinaire” Virginia Carmichael, a volunteer visiting from The Kenney:

She and others from The Kenney visited to drop off hand-knit items for babies in need. WestSide Baby says she “has been knitting as much as one baby sweater per week for 5 years for WestSide Baby.” Several other residents from The Kenney “regularly create garments and quilts to keep their littlest neighbors safe, warm and dry,” explains Jess Sweetman of WS Baby.

The knitters’ creations were exhibited at The Kenney recently before being taken to WS Baby. Virginia says she’s volunteered all her life, going back to her days as a Girl Scout. She told WS Baby that she likes to keep busy and “benefits as much from making the sweaters as the children who receive them.”

The announcement of today’s donation visit also quotes WestSide Baby executive director Nancy Woodland (at right in the second photo above) as saying, “We are so excited to celebrate these very dedicated and talented volunteers and everything that they do to support kids in our community. We are privileged to be a part of an incredible community of support made up of over 1,800 volunteers who dedicated over 18,000 hours of service last year. Volunteering benefits our entire community.”

Thinking about volunteering for WestSide Baby? Here’s how.