Costa Mesa nonprofit has made half a million beanies for cancer patients

COSTA MESA, Calif. (KABC) -- Costa Mesa nonprofit Knots of Love is celebrating a huge milestone - half a million beanies made for cancer treatment centers across the county.

"It touches my heart! I can't even tell you how excited I am," said founder Christine Fabiani, who runs the operation from her condo to keep the overhead costs down.

It's where volunteers collect the knitted or crocheted beanies and neonatal blankets that have been sent in from across the country. The items are then inspected, tagged, and bundled.

After 13 years of service and continuous word of mouth, they're now able to send out shipments every week.

"We've been doing it for so long now that people will go into hospitals, they'll see our beanies in oncologist offices or hospitals or neonatal units and they'll see our hang tags from the beanies or the blankets and they'll say hey I know how to knit or crochet," Fabiani said.

The stay-at-home orders have helped amp up production. In a normal month, they'll donate a little over 4,000 beanies and blankets. Last month, Knots of Love hit a record high with over 7,100.

"Especially now while we're in this horrific pandemic, they're home in isolation. They have nothing but time on their hands and this is something that they can do," she said.

Of course, she's had to make some changes to the operation with health and safety protocols in place to keep chugging along towards the next half a million.

"I know we're gonna get there sooner or later, oh there's no doubt. And I'm so excited. So excited," Fabiani said.

If you know how to knit or crochet, you can help them get to that 1 million mark. For information on how to donate, go to KnotsOfLove.org.