9-year-old starts family knitting club to make hats and scarves for those in need


With his family by his side, Alex Reins has been busy knitting hats and scarves for people who will need them this winter.
The 9-year-old from Lakewood, Colorado, was inspired to give back after hearing about a person who was discharged from the hospital wearing only a hospital gown and socks, and had to wait for the bus in the cold. "His big heart saw that and he thought, 'We just need to do something to help other people,'" his great-aunt, Cherie DeHerrera, told 9News.
Reins, his mother, Bri Reins, and three great-aunts regularly get together to knit for what they call Alex's Warm Hat Project. They've worked diligently, and they've made more than 300 hats and scarves. They drop them off at local food banks and homeless shelters, for distribution to those who are "out in the cold and don't have enough money to get a hat," Alex Reins said. It's not difficult to make the scarves and hats, Bri Reins said, and it makes a huge difference in people's lives: "You can turn a ball of yarn into something beautiful."
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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