One day last year Brandy Tisdale was crocheting a baby blanket.
Tisdale, an Emergency Medical Technician with Sumter County Emergency Medical Services, wanted to make something for her best friend’s baby and Mary Pack noticed her obvious skill.
A simple question led to a new initiative: Can you make a scarf?
Capt. Pack, a shift supervisor who has been with Sumter County for 19 years, had been talking with Tisdale and others about something they’d seen on social media, whereby folks leave articles of clothing, hats and scarves in public places for the homeless and less fortunate.
When the cold weather hits, the idea is simple: Leave a scarf tied to a tree, or a lamp, or somewhere easily accessible. Someone who needs it will hopefully find this free offering, and read the attached card, which states: I am not lost!! If you need this scarf to stay warm, please take it! Be warm! Do something to help someone else if you can! From Sumter Co. EMS.
It’s now known as ‘Scarves Around Town,’ and already several of Sumter County’s Emergency Medical Technicians and Paramedics have distributed scarves.
“I think it’s an awesome opportunity to help people in need and for us to give back to our community,” said Chief Bobby Hingst, Director of EMS. “I commend them for coming up with the idea and seeing it through. I hope people get use out of them and stay warm this winter.”
Tisdale, who has been with EMS for a year, saw crocheting as the chance to make something useful in her downtime, while also realizing “it’s actually a really good stress reliever, believe it or not.”
Friends and family have donated yarn and she said when she and her husband see yarn on sale, they “buy it up.”
When she’s off work, she can make two or three scarves a day, she said.
“She’s quick,” Pack said. “I want her to teach us how to do it.”
Tisdale’s daughter Alexandrea Rhodes and Pack designed the laminated cards attached to the scarves, which feature a scarf-wearing Piglet, and recommends the recipient pay it forward.
“You pass on a kind deed and they’ll pass on a kind deed,” Tisdale said.
Sumter County Administrator Gary Mixon said he’s proud of the example being set by the county’s paramedics and EMTs.
“This campaign to help out the less fortunate is a wonderful idea and shows to our community how much our team at Emergency Medical Services cares about serving Sumter and being a positive force for change,” he said.