Hats Donated to Food Pantry

Note: In the time since this story was first posted, organizers of this effort have changed the address at which they're receiving donations. The updated address is now reflected in the story below.

Emily Kubin appears to be the typical 17-year-old high school junior. Smart, pretty and stylish, she expresses herself well verbally.

But, she also expresses herself well in another way: by knitting hats for the less fortunate.

Last week, the Morris Township teen delivered 50 hats, 25 for adults and 25 for children,  to the Interfaith Food Pantry’s new building in the Morris County Central Park complex.

She didn’t knit all the hats herself, but she recruited friends and acquaintances to either make or buy hats. She also brought in a bag of gloves donated by a school nurse at the high school.

“People are more aware of the need,” Emily said. “I even got hats sent from England.”

She has donated 200 hats through the food pantry at Church of the Redeemer in Morristown and another 80 in Dover.

“The people who come here, don’t go to the soup kitchens,” she said of the families that use the Interfaith Food Pantry.

Her next set of donations will be farther afield. She is making hats for families in Appalachia.

Emily’s mother, Jill, whom the teen refers to as “PR Mama,” said they were told there are 5,000 people in the Appalachia region who need hats. Their intitial goal was to supply 600 hats to Appalachia in Kentucky by Emily’s 18th birthday, Dec. 21, but they would really like to have more than 1,000 hats to send.

Emily is always looking for donations to help the project.

They are no set up to receive checks, so donations of yarn or WalMart, Michael’s and AC Moore gift cards would be appreciated. They may be sent to:

Emily's Hats For Hope Initiative
PO Box 2374
Morristown, NJ 07962-2374

The direct email for the hat project is hats4hopeinitiative@yahoo.com. Any questions should be directed there.

Volunteers are needed as much or more than yarn, Jill said.