Angel Trees are a popular tradition for many this time of year. The Bethany Life Foundation has been carrying out this tradition at The Households of Bethany for many years now, and this year was no different. In the weeks leading up to now, our Foundation has been hard at work collecting gift requests and distributing them to five of our member churches. This week in total, The Bethany Life Foundation was able to ensure that all 121 of our residents had at least one gift to open this Christmas.
Among the requests, there was one that was quite compelling. Charlotte Romp was a resident at The Households of Bethany in LifeBridge. Charlotte’s one wish this year for Christmas was an orange, knitted blanket. This presented a unique challenge for the our foundation as they attempted to find someone who would be willing and able to fulfill Charlotte’s wish.
Bethany Lutheran in Kelley received Charlotte’s Christmas wish and had a perfect candidate in mind for the project. Eighth grader Rilynn Nehring and her family go to church at Bethany Lutheran in Kelley and she volunteered herself to crochet the blanket for Charlotte. Rilynn has been crocheting for several months now, and she is completely self taught. Rilynn’s mom, Ashley Percer, works at a hair salon in Ames, and Rilynn saw one of her mom’s clients crocheting and wanted to learn. Since then, Rilynn has taught herself several different techniques through trial and error as well as internet tutorials. In total, Rilynn said that Charlotte’s blanket took about three to four days to make. She said she can also make things like purses, granny squares, slippers, and more. Rilynn is 13 years old and goes to Ballard Middle School. Along with Crocheting, Rilynn also participates in her school’s FFA, FCA, student council, and enjoys going to Riverside Bible Camp here in Story City.