When cancer struck close to home, Edith Perkins looked for ways to cope and to help as her sister battled the disease.

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BAY MINETTE — When cancer struck close to home, Edith Perkins looked for ways to cope and to help as her sister battled the disease.

She picked up a crochet needle and found a way to do both.

"My sister (Betty Rochester) had cancer, and her hair began to fall out. I grabbed some yarn — I had never made a hat — but I made a perfect hat. That was 20 years ago, and I've been doing it ever since."

At the time, Perkins lived in Delaware, but after 50 years away she moved home to Bay Minette about a decade ago. She brought back her hobby and a passion for community service along with her.

"I've given away close to 8,000 hats," she said, mostly to cancer patients and nursing homes. Some have also made their way to the Ukraine as part of mission work.

Her handiwork is looped in ministry, she said.

"God is the one who put that in me from not even knowing how to make a hat," she said. "When I am sitting, I have a crochet needle in hand."

Sometimes, the work takes the shape of a hat, and other times she makes afghans. She has also sewn and distributed approximately 1,000 masks.
Last year, Perkins distributed about 800 hats to various locations including Oakwood-North Baldwin's Center for Living, Tiger Den and the Southern Cancer Clinic in Daphne. She also sends some back to organizations in Delaware and hands them out to people she meets along the way.

"Seeing how they appreciate what I'm doing" makes her happy, she said, and also provides comfort that she is providing a little warmth to those facing trying times.

"When I see people wearing them, a lot of people going through cancer, a small thing like giving them a hat helps brighten up their whole day," she said.

At 78 years young, Perkins said she likes to stay active and give back as much as she can.

"I would rather give than receive," she said. "I am so blessed."