What started as a small way to honor a memory and meet a need has grown into over 400 blankets—and endless knots.
It was just two years ago that the death of a beloved grandmother stirred Darlington alumna Ashley Edge (‘15) to start a service project in memory of her Nanny. During the latter half of her junior year and throughout her final two semesters, Ashley worked to create fleece blankets for those in need—cancer patients, sick children, those less fortunate—anyone who could use the warmth they provided.
After her graduation from Darlington last May, the fate of "Knots for Nanny" was left only briefly hanging in the air.
“After seeing all of the good that it has done for other people, we didn't want for it to just end,” said Chandler Edge (‘17), her younger brother. “Word had gotten around, and people were constantly emailing and texting us—it would be really hard to just stop.”
Brother and sister had bonded with their Nanny over the blankets, one of the first things she taught them how to make as youngsters.
"It was like what she gave us, we wanted to give to others," added the younger Edge. “That feeling of doing good for other people—it’s such a nice feeling that you get inside”
While the project was originally created to serve cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, it has gone on to make a difference in the lives of those with infinitely different stories of their own. While many of the knotted blankets are made in a hobby room at the family home, some are also donated, stored and then redistributed. Each fleece blanket takes approximately 90 minutes to put together, and includes a Knots for Nanny card that features an inspirational Bible verse.
During the first three years of his life, Chandler was treated at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta for neck and arm ailments stemming from torticollis and Erb's palsy. Recently, the junior got to return to visit the very place that helped grant him a new lease on life, giving back by delivering 14 blankets to the young patients there.
"It can be really sad in some ways—but it's actually happy," he explained. "You never know how much it means to people...just making a blanket."
Other donation locations have included the Hope Center at Cartersville Medical Center, Cancer Navigators, and different sites in neighboring Polk County.
"At Darlington, 'Service Beyond Self' is talked about daily," said Chandler. "In initially thinking about Knots for Nanny, service was already on our minds because it is what we do here. The school and [Director of Servant Leadership] Mrs. [Reba] Barnes have been a lot of help with this project."
The initiative has been touched by several different pockets at Darlington, including the girls in the Upper School's Regester House dormitory and Early Learning Academy students, who have all tied the two pieces of fabric together for each gift of love. Even Chandler's youth group at Victory Baptist Church (Rockmart, Ga.) has gotten involved.
"How you progress in this world is by helping people—'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,'" he said.
After graduating from college, Chandler, who has always been interested in psychology, hopes to work as a children's therapist with a focus on post-traumatic stress disorder, bullying and depression. He is the son of Latonia and Chris Edge of Taylorsville, Ga.
Those interested in supporting the work of Knots for Nanny can contact Chandler Edge directly at cwedge@darlingtonschool.org. All money and/or materials that are collected go right back into the mission.
