Sartell group warms the community with hand-crafted items

Any given Thursday afternoon at the Sartell Senior Center, you can find Paulette’s Pearls crocheting, knitting and cross-stitching for a cause.

The group offers a welcomed opportunity to socialize, but members have a greater mission: to give back to the community.

The group was started in 2018 by Paulette Levasseur, who has since died. She was an active volunteer her whole life and worked with a lot of organizations, including CentraCare and the Sartell Park Board. Levasseur loved to cross-stitch and crochet, and, over time, she acquired quite the collection of yarn.

One day, she looked around her home and thought, “What am I going to do with all this?”

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She soon started the yarn group with an invitation for anyone to join under one condition: If they used the yarn Levasser donated to the group, the final product — scarves, hats, mittens — had to be donated to the homeless.

Six years later and the group is still going strong in her honor. The group’s name is an homage to her.

Mary Fasen was part of the group from the very beginning.

“I walked in (the Sartell Community Center), and I talked to Paulette, and she explained to me what she was doing,” Fasen said. “And you get anybody who's an avid crocheter or knitter, you run out of things and people to give stuff to, and it was like, wow, I'll have an unlimited supply of need. And I really like that a lot.”

The list Paulette’s Pearls donates to is long. Tri-CAP, Homeless Helping Homeless, Knights of Columbus, St. Cloud Veteran Resource and Enrichment Center, churches, local hospitals, foster homes, the police department…the list goes on. They make everything from hats for children in the NICU to teddy bears and dishcloths that go to veterans and their families.

A lot of organizations enlist their help. Many of the group members have connections to other organizations in the area that are in need, and they distribute the goods to them.

“If somebody comes forward and says they have a need, then we'll switch over and start doing that for a while,” Fasen said.

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The group also works with AmeriCorps Seniors RSVP, a group based at the Whitney Center that connects those ages 55 and up with volunteer opportunities in Benton, Sherburne, Stearns and Wright Counties.

Paulette’s Pearls meets on Thursdays from 1 to 3 p.m., and they exchange yarn and drop off their finished items. There are usually about eight to 10 people that show up each week, but sometimes there are as many as 16. For a small group, they’re mighty. They average more than 1,500 hand-crafted items each year — all of which are donated.

But not everyone does their needlework at the community center. Some group members drop off big bags of hats or mittens and continue their work at home.

Even Levasseur’s sister, Sandy Mielke, participates from out of state. She mails her completed projects to Fasen from Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

No member is required to come to each meeting, and they aren’t required to meet a quota.

“You come if you are able and want to, and you can come and stay for five minutes. You can come and stay for two hours. Some of the women are in their 90s, and they maybe make one or two hats in a whole month. And that's it. That's fine,” said Fasen.

Still, some members bring dozens of hats each week. One group member averages one plush teddy bear per day.

So, where does the yarn come from? Levasseur certainly gave the group a lot of material to start with, but yarn donations have since flooded in from the community. It’s a lot of word of mouth, and it’s given Paulette’s Pearls the ability to restock their shelves repeatedly and continue to serve community members in need.

“When we start getting low on yarn, somehow, lo and behold, a whole bunch of it just shows up…and we go through a lot of yarn, because we go through a lot of products,” Fasen said.

They also scour local garage sales for deals.

The beauty of the group and having so many different colors and types of yarn means that each hat, scarf or pair of mittens is unique. Even though many of the members have been practicing needlework for years, they’re always teaching each other new patterns, stitches and skills.

It’s also a welcoming space to connect with others and enjoy good conversation outside of their homes.

Like Fasen, Terry Friedrich has been part of the group since its inception.

“I have a lot of time,” Friedrich said with a laugh. “I joined because I have a lot of yarn…but when the kids were growing up, I didn't have time to do it.”

Levasseur made an impact on everyone she knew, and her legacy lives on in the beautiful hats and scarves that keep so many in this community warm.

Paulette’s Pearls is gearing up for the Knights of Columbus coat drive. Not only will children get a coat, but they’ll also get a hat from the group. The group will also be making hats for police officers to give to children and people in need at the scene of accidents and crises.

Community members who want to help can give monetary or yarn donations to the front desk of the Sartell Community Center.

This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: Sartell group warms the community with hand-crafted items