Handmade scarves and notes left for homeless to keep warm

BURLINGTON, VT -- Some City Hall Park visitors have benefited from a random act of kindness.

Someone left hand-knit scarves in the park abutting Burlington's City Hall with tags stating: "I am not lost. I was handmade for you. If you are cold and need me, please take me."

About a half dozen scarves were seen hanging on the fountain railing Wednesday night. The following morning, two scarves remained.

A man with a banjo said he had put a scarf to good use.

"It kept me warm last night," the man who identified himself as Wook said.

He said he had slept near the park in the driest spot he could find.

"It's awesome who ever did that," he said.

Jessica Peck of South Burlington identified herself Thursday as responsible for the hand-knit scarves. Peck said this was the second time she's left scarves there for whoever needs them. She made an earlier delivery on Christmas Eve.

She brushed off the question of whether there was an agenda behind her actions.

"Everyone gets cold the same," Peck said.

The knit-stitch scarves each take a week for Peck to complete in her spare time after work, but they are well-made and warm, according to those who use them.

Earlier in the day, park visitor Eric Charbonneau came across Wook and the two remaining scarves.

"You got one of them?" Charbonneau said to Wook.

When told he could take one, he did, immediately wrapping himself in it. "That's cool."

That left a single orange-and-purple-striped scarf.

Burlington City Arts Center staff who work in the gallery abutting the park said they had no idea who left the scarves but were happy the good Samaritan(s) had taken action.

"It just shows that there's some good in the world," Assistant Curator Ashley Jimenez said Thursday morning.

Long-time Burlington resident Chai Gang stopped by the scarves to admire their color.

"I don't know who made them, but it's a good idea," Gang said. She added she was born during the depression and back then homelessness was not a word. She recalled 20 people living in her home, and all of them looking for work.

"People wouldn't need to be homeless if people could take them in," Gang said looking at the scarves.

***

For more stories like this, LIKE Humankind on Facebook.