PENN TOWNSHIP-- Her fingers work fast, but efficiently. An inmate at the Snyder County Prison near Selinsgrove is one of several who spend time crocheting blankets, a lot of blankets.
"They enjoy it. It gives them self-satisfaction while they're there and keeps them busy. They do not have idle hands," Prothonotary Teresa Berger said.
The program is a popular one. Members of the Snyder County Council of Republican Women started gathering yarn and taking it to the prison about six years ago. The inmates crochet blankets for hospitals, nursing homes, and the American Red Cross. The warden says it keeps them busy and the commissioners say it cuts down on fighting at the prison.
"We've saved literally hundreds of thousands of dollars in health care costs by not having to run these folks to the hospital when they get into scraps because they've all been eliminated for the most part," Commissioner Joe Kantz said.
The Manor at Penn Village is about a mile away from the Snyder County Prison and the residents at the nursing facility here are the recipients of a lot of the blankets.
"They appreciate it. They really do. They appreciate the opportunity, the time, and it just gives back to them," Michelle Romig said.
Recently, one of the inmates reached out to Snyder County Prothonotary Teresa Berger, who helps with the program. Berger says the women are fast crocheters, and need more yarn.
"We just believe that it's so worthy that if the public is aware of it, they'll find that it's a great place to donate leftover yarn," Berger said.
Donations of yarn can be dropped off at the prothonotary's office at the Snyder County Courthouse in Middleburg.
The Courthouse's address:
9 West Market Street,
Middleburg, PA 17842.
The prison provides the women with crocheting hooks.