Story posted Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Des Plaines resident Nancy Dolatowski estimates she has knitted about 400 blankets for injured veterans at local hospitals. (Tom Wessell/The Journal)
Keeping Vets Warm
Local Woman's Blankets Comfort Injured
By DWIGHT ESAU Journal & Topics Reporter
Physicians, nurses, family members, and government and military officials care for wounded veterans recovering in hospitals.
But there's one Des Plaines grandmother who just may be the most popular and valued "caregiver" of them all, at least in the Chicago area. She's never met a veteran, but about 400 of them consider her a very good friend.
The 400 are recovering vets who are now, or have recently, rehabbed in Chicago-area hospitals from wounds suffered in Iraq and Afghanistan. They have a special, "warm" feeling for Nancy Dolatowski, who has spent the last two years keeping them warm and comfortable.
One of he toughest things recovering vets have to deal with is the constant cold from winter or summer air-conditioning.
"They apparently don't get enough, or any, blankets to keep them comfortable during the long months of rehabilitation," according to Dolatowski. "It's amazing to me why our government can't provide these to these patients," Dolatowski says. "But as long as they apparently don't provide enough of them, I feel I ought to help as much as I can." She stepped into this breach two years ago. She likes to crochet and is willing to do a lot of it for others in need. "I'm not much for watching TV, but I like to work with my hands," she says.
In the last two years, Dolatowski estimates that she has crocheted "about 400" afghan blankets for veterans at Hines and North Chicago hospitals, and other area institutions. Done in a variety of colors and even shapes, they fit over the laps and legs of patients, most of whom are in wheelchairs.
"They can't get enough of them, they snap them up as fast as I can crochet them," she said recently in her Des Plaines home. "I could mass-produce them on machines, and it still might not be enough."
Dolatowski is a great-grandmother and a full-time caregiver to her 97-year-old mother who lives with her. But she is a veteran crafter who has found an outlet for her talent that is multiplying pleasure for wounded veterans and their families in the Chicago area on a weekly basis. It all started in two places – in her basement and at the Des Plaines Elks Club on Lee Street, where she and a good friend are long-time members. "I got bored a couple of years ago, and I was rummaging in my basement when I found a supply of yarn that was purchased originally in a Venture store, and you know how long they have been gone," she said. "I started crocheting to pass the time. I told my friend at the club, Marian Seaholm, and gave her a couple of them and asked her if she knew anyone who wanted or needed them. She said she sure did, and she started taking them to the veterans hospitals. I'm not much for watching TV, but I like to work with my hands, so this works well for me," she said. "We have bingo at the Elks Club every Wednesday, so Marian and I get together there.
"My caregiving keeps me at home, and I don't have time to drive all over the area to hospitals," Dolatowski said. "Marian takes my afghans and makes the deliveries. She tells me they are very popular, and the veterans love them. Now, I just keep crocheting and she keeps delivering."
"I used to crochet them for my children and grandchildren, but my family is saturated with them, so this is a great way to do something I enjoy and have the product go to a good cause."
"I estimate that I make an average of three afghans a week, and it costs me about $4.50 each to make them. I have invested $500 in this project in the last two years. I am not interested in the money and I don't charge for them. But I just wish I could find a good, inexpensive source for more yarn."
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