In the 1980s, when Jo Boone and her late mother left work at Broughton Hospital in Morganton, they felt for the homeless people they encountered on the dark streets. So the women began crocheting hats in bright oranges, yellows, and greens — colors that would be most visible at night. They hung some from trees where they could be easily grabbed, and took others to shelters. Friends joined the cause, and now, every Friday at lunchtime, you’ll find the “Catawba Crafters” around the community table at Lowes Foods in Hickory, crocheting things like medical bags for people in Haiti, and wheelchair shawls — shorter, with no fringe to catch in wheels. The group still makes hats, which Jo sometimes delivers directly to the homeless themselves. “They trust me,” she says of the people she still helps after all these years.
