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Louise Dawson with her Steelers and Ravens afghans she crocheted. (By Yvette May/Staff Photographer) |
Twelve years ago, Louise Dawson of Hagerstown battled a rare form of cancer.
As she emerged a survivor, she made a promise: She would do something each day of her life for someone else, even if it was just crocheting.
At nearly 80 years old, Dawson crochets more than 20 afghans each year to give away.
Some go to family, some to friends.
Others go to organizations to be raffled or auctioned to raise money.
So when Hagerstown Citizens on Patrol learned that it did not receive much-needed funding for this year, Dawson said she told the group, of which she is a member, that she would donate a few afghans crocheted with the helmets of popular National Football League teams for it to raffle.
Her idea raised a few skeptical eyebrows, but now that more than 1,000 raffle tickets have been sold and another 500 have been printed, her idea just might prove more profitable than anyone thought.
"Louise is the 'get-it-doner,'" said Phil Nussear, vice president of Citizens on Patrol.
In the background, Dawson asked, "The what?"
"If you want something to get done, put a 'bug' in Louise's ear and it will get done," Nussear said.
Within two days of starting to sell tickets, Nussear said the first 500 he printed had been sold and Dawson said more were needed.
"It's amazing," Nussear said.
Other afghans Dawson has created have raised as much as $1,400, she said.
"We hope to make $1,000 to $1,500 off the raffle," she said.
Between now and the Dec. 15 drawing, tickets will be on sale through members of Citizens on Patrol and at the Hagerstown Police Department on Burhans Boulevard, Nussear said.
Tickets cost $1 each or $5 for six, he said.
The money will go into the organization's general fund, which helps pay for its operations, equipment such as radios, and repairs to its fleet of patrol vehicles.
In the past year, one of the organization's patrol cars was vandalized, and eventually declared totaled, when someone dropped a television from the grandstand of Fairgrounds Park onto the vehicle's roof, Nussear said.
This fall, Hagerstown Ford donated a 1997 Plymouth to Citizens on Patrol, and another dealership has said it will donate a vehicle, he said.
As she emerged a survivor, she made a promise: She would do something each day of her life for someone else, even if it was just crocheting.
At nearly 80 years old, Dawson crochets more than 20 afghans each year to give away.
Some go to family, some to friends.
Others go to organizations to be raffled or auctioned to raise money.
So when Hagerstown Citizens on Patrol learned that it did not receive much-needed funding for this year, Dawson said she told the group, of which she is a member, that she would donate a few afghans crocheted with the helmets of popular National Football League teams for it to raffle.
Her idea raised a few skeptical eyebrows, but now that more than 1,000 raffle tickets have been sold and another 500 have been printed, her idea just might prove more profitable than anyone thought.
"Louise is the 'get-it-doner,'" said Phil Nussear, vice president of Citizens on Patrol.
In the background, Dawson asked, "The what?"
"If you want something to get done, put a 'bug' in Louise's ear and it will get done," Nussear said.
Within two days of starting to sell tickets, Nussear said the first 500 he printed had been sold and Dawson said more were needed.
"It's amazing," Nussear said.
Other afghans Dawson has created have raised as much as $1,400, she said.
"We hope to make $1,000 to $1,500 off the raffle," she said.
Between now and the Dec. 15 drawing, tickets will be on sale through members of Citizens on Patrol and at the Hagerstown Police Department on Burhans Boulevard, Nussear said.
Tickets cost $1 each or $5 for six, he said.
The money will go into the organization's general fund, which helps pay for its operations, equipment such as radios, and repairs to its fleet of patrol vehicles.
In the past year, one of the organization's patrol cars was vandalized, and eventually declared totaled, when someone dropped a television from the grandstand of Fairgrounds Park onto the vehicle's roof, Nussear said.
This fall, Hagerstown Ford donated a 1997 Plymouth to Citizens on Patrol, and another dealership has said it will donate a vehicle, he said.
