After record season, knitter plans more ways to spread warmth

(Harrisburg) — After a record-setting winter, a midstate knitter is using the summer to plan an expansion of her initiative to get hand-made scarves and hats into the hands of people who need them.

Angelia Reed started the Wrap Up! Project in Lancaster in 2014.

In the first year, she was able to collect about 500 items to distribute via “scarf-bombings” or, leaving accessories in public spaces for people to take.

In the last year, the project gave out 3,700 items between October and April.

Reed said she started the project after about a decade of working in social services. 

“The reason I set the project up the way I did was so that people could take the items without having to qualify for them in any way. They don’t have to fill out forms, they don’t have to actually even talk to somebody to justify why they need it. They simply take what they need,” she said. 

Reed said she using the warmer months to plan an expansion to other areas where she knows there’s a need.

“I also feel that we have enough items, that we’re getting enough donations that we could expand to some place like Harrisburg or Baltimore,” she said. 

Reed said expansion could also include packages of sleeping bags and food for people who are homeless.

Donations of yarn and hand-made scarves are accepted year-round at drop-off points around Lancaster.