Hometown Hero: Jeff Boyne of West Salem
Earlier this week, I was reading through the paper and came across an article about a meteorologist who makes hats for charity. How perfect, I thought, because they are always telling people to bundle up against the frigid winter weather. As I read more about the story, I learned about Jeff Boyne of West Salem who has made over 2,675 wool hats through his program “Spread the Warmth Project” and decided he would be a perfect Hometown Hero.
For the past five years, Jeff Boyne has been knitting hats and donating them to hospitals and domestic violence shelters for babies, cancer patients and displaced families. Often, due to circumstances beyond their control, these people are in need of something to keep them warm. Some of them can’t afford hats or weren’t able to bring them with them. Others simply appreciate the touch of care and attention that a handmade gift can provide. Whatever the reason, Jeff’s 4,300 hours of work has produced hats to help people from Michigan to Minnesota.
As Jeff says, he works for the National Weather Service: service is in their name. So to him, spending his time outside of the office working on community service projects just makes sense. It was after attending a National Weather Service leadership program in Kentucky back in 2009 that Jeff came up with the idea to knit hats for those who need them. He thought of a friend who had recently died of cancer and wanted to do something to help chemo patients who had hair loss.
“It started in remembrance of her,” Jeff told the Coulee News. So he asked his mother to teach him how to knit. He says it wasn’t too hard to learn. For those of you curious, Jeff mostly uses a circular loom and hook to make his hats. He says it is a lot easier than needles. Within two months he had passed his goal of 20 hours of service and 100 finished hats. Jeff estimates that he now makes 30-50 hats a month, all in different sizes and colors.
The people who receive Jeff’s hats are usually going through especially difficult or trying times in their lives. Just like the memory of his friend led to hats for cancer patients, the birth of a preemie baby in his family prompted Jeff to start making hats for babies. His wife and her mother make fleece blankets for the University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital in the Twin Cities so Jeff started taking his hats up there too. When he visits family in Michigan, he brings his hats to local women’s shelters and hospital. The goal of all this is simple, to provide warmth and comfort for someone in need.
The Coulee News interviewed Judy Hudson who works at one of the shelters that has received some of Jeff’s hats. Hudson volunteers at Eva’s Place, a domestic violence shelter in Sanilac County, Michigan and is a lifelong family friend of Jeff’s. So when he came to visit his parents for the holidays, donating his hats to Eva’s Place seemed like a natural fit.
For Hudson, the hats were a most welcome gift, especially to a shelter funded entirely through donations. “There is no many to buy things like that,” she told the paper of hats for their residents. “We need someone like Jeff who can donate those things so they are available for the families.” Not to mention the fact that Michigan, like Wisconsin, is known for its rough winters.
In addition to being a way to help out his community, the hats are also a form of relaxation for Jeff. He enjoys knitting and keeping his hands busy. He also enjoys being able to spread the Christmas spirit throughout the entire year. Jeff says he doesn’t ever bring his knitting to work but most of his colleagues think it is a cool project. One of his coworker’s wives even is interested in joining the project. He’s even heard from people in other NWS offices who are interested in participating as well.
For now, Jeff is content to stick with hats. And judging by the weather we have been hit by in the past few weeks, I would say that is a good bet.
Congratulations to you, Jeff. Thank you for your service to our community and continue to be a Hometown Hero.