TOP: COURTESY OF MAURA MOORE; RIGHT: COURTESY OF STACY WIENER
way for even the busiest person
to give back to the commu-
nity. Many hospitals and charity
groups exist to connect craft-
ers with those in need, with
projects ranging from those
requiring only the most basic of
skills to those more challenging
and time consuming.

As a weekly volunteer at a
local food pantry in New Jersey,
Stacy Wiener was struck by
how many patrons requested
toiletries along with food,
since basic things like soap and
shampoo can’t be purchased with govern-
ment subsidies. A knitter since college,
she decided to crochet a cotton washcloth
and sewed it into a pouch to hold a bar of
soap to give out the following week.

Wiener was shocked by the response
at the pantry, not just from the recip-
ients of her soap sacks, but also from
other volunteers who quickly signed up
to make more of them. As the number of
soap sacks created and distributed began
to grow, so did the sense of community
among the volunteers knitting and cro-
cheting them, which is something that
Wiener is particularly proud of.

In September 2017, Weiner launched
the non-profit organization S.A.C.K.

(Supporting a Community with Kindness)
to collect additional handmade soap sacks
for donation, and today, soap sacks are
knitted or crocheted in all 50 states. Some
are sent to Wiener to donate, while others
are donated by crafters to the local food
pantry or homeless shelter of their choice.

Even though soap sacks take less than
an hour to create, and the costs for the
yarn and bar of soap are minimal, crafters
feel like they are really making a differ-
ence. Not only is there a “sense of dignity
in being clean,” says Wiener, but recip-
ients feel “loved” by the notion that the
soap sack was handmade. (See sidebar for
sample pattern.)
ALL YOU MEEP IS LOVE
One Montgomery County Public School
(MCSP) teacher and mom is also prov-
ing that something very small can make a
huge difference in someone’s life.

Maura Moore is “a middle school teacher
trying to help heal the world one crocheted
emotional support orb at a time,” accord-
ing to her Instagram bio. Based on a knitted
“black hole” she saw about 10 years ago
on Etsy, Moore’s orbs are small and
plush — about the size of a Mandarin
orange — with shiny, black eyes.

Moore gave the first “orb” she
crocheted to her husband when they
Maura Moore crochets with her lunch bunch students.

KNIT A SOAP SACK
Recommended needle
size = 7 (4.5 mm) or 8 (5.0
mm) Gauge: 18 stitches =
4 inches
Use a cotton or
cotton-blend yarn
• Cast on 24 stitches
• Row 1: *K1, P1; repeat
from * to end of row
• Row 2: *P1, K1; repeat
from * to end of row
• Repeat Rows 1 and 2 for
pattern (seed stitch) until
8 1⁄4 inches
• Bind off loosely
• Fold in half
• Seam one side and
bottom of sack
• Add loop — use a braid,
crochet chain (14 chains)
or single ply of yarn
Approximate size of
finished soap sack should
be 4 x 6 inches
were going through difficult
times and was surprised to see
it always in his pocket or in his
hands, not tucked away forgot-
ten in his sock drawer as she
had imagined. So she crocheted
a few more and brought them
to school.

When one of her middle
school students was struggling
with “life-y things,” Moore
gave her a yellow orb named
“Sunshine” as a pick-me-up.

As with her husband, Moore’s
student was always holding
hers, carrying it around everywhere.

Moore knew she was on to something
when another student asked if she could
have one to hold while taking a test to
help relieve her performance anxiety.

When Moore asked her if the orb had
helped, the student said yes and called
it her “meep.” Moore, an avid Beatles
fan, loved the name and christened her
movement “All You Meep is Love.”
Since all this began in March of 2019,
Moore estimates she has made and
handed out more than 1,000 meeps, which
she makes at night while watching TV or
riding in the car on family trips.

After Moore’s meeps were featured
on a local website, co-workers in 8 to 10
MCPS locations have joined in the cre-
ation of these crocheted orbs, which they
give out to students, teachers and admin-
istrators — just about anyone in need of
a boost or a pat on the back. In her 6th
grade English classes, Moore names a
“Meep of the Week,” and the honored
student gets to select an orb from a small
collection she keeps in her classroom.

Moore’s community has been great
about supporting her project, donating
yarn, specific “meep” eyes that are safe
for all ages and Poly-fil to stuff them.

Donations show up at her school or in her
mailbox on a regular basis.

“I am in awe every day of what the
meeps are doing and how all of these
amazing people in my life have come out
in support to help spread this message of
love, kindness and healing,” says Moore.

She doesn’t charge for the meeps or for
the pattern to make them, asking only in
return that they not be sold and that her
“All You Meep is Love” message continues
to spread. ■
Michelle Blanchard Ardillo is a freelance
writer and middle school language arts
teacher. She moderates an after-school
club where middle schoolers learn to crochet
and make items for charity. Follow her on
Twitter @michardillo or on her website,
michelleardillo.com. WashingtonFAMILY.com 15