The holiday season is a time for giving to others.

For volunteers in a ministry at a local church, such generosity isn’t limited to this time of year, but instead continues all year long.

Sybil McCullers is the director of the Loving Hands ministry at McDonough Christian Church. McCullers said volunteers crochet a variety of items throughout the year for medical facilities in the area, with a particular emphasis on the holiday season.

“We’ve been ministering to Piedmont Henry all the time,” says McCullers. “During the holidays, we do prints for them – Christmas prints, turkeys, Thanksgiving prints, anything that goes with the holidays. Already, we’ve done over 1,900 donations this year.

“We always send extra holiday things to the hospital,” added McCullers. “We sew all year ‘round, and then when a holiday is coming up, we use fabric specifically for that holiday. We will be sending Christmas things probably around the first of December.”

McCullers said Loving Hands primarily creates developmental linens including sheets, snuggies, and weighted beanbag-like items for positioning premature babies.

“There is a lady that crochets blankets, and they do go home with the babies,” she said.

McCullers said her volunteers also make isolette covers, designed to protect babies born who are early.

“Light is not good for them initially, so it shields out light,” she said.

Susan Ferrell worked as a nurse in the NICU at Piedmont Henry Hospital until her recent retirement. The 40-year veteran nurse said the group, based out of McDonough Christian Church on Jonesboro Road, has extended its reach far beyond Henry County over the years.

“It’s like a church ministry,” said Ferrell. “They make clothing for children in Haiti, they make do-rags for cancer patients, and for women and men to wear during the holidays.”

The creative talents of volunteers at Loving Hands are not limited to the holidays. McCullers added that the group also makes red hats to send to hospitals in the Atlanta area to promote heart-health awareness.

She said in addition to Piedmont Henry, Loving Hands has donated items previously to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Piedmont Newnan Hospital, and to DeKalb Medical Center.