Knitters enjoy supporting those who need some love BY TALI ISRAELI Staff Writer Members of the knitting club at Marlboro's Greenbriar adult community take pride in creating beautiful gifts and donating them to organizations such as Project Support Our Soldiers and 180 Turning Lives Around. MARLBORO - The ladies of the Greenbriar adult community share a common thread - the desire to help those in need. It was 10 years ago when Greenbriar resident Claire Sussman had an idea to start a knitting club with some of her neighbors. "I've been a knitter all my life," Sussman said. The club, which presently has about 10 members, knits and donates afghans to several charitable organizations, including Project Support Our Soldiers and 180 Turning Lives Around. Project SOS, a nonprofit organization formed by Marlboro resident Andrea Mesh, provides support to American armed forces and their families at home and abroad. 180 Turning Lives Around is a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending domestic violence and sexual assault, according to the organization's Web site. Sussman said the group received a letter last year from a soldier who slept with one of the afghans on Christmas Eve. Mesh said she recently received a phone call from an Army Ranger's mother who said the blankets were a great idea because the soldiers are freezing. Mesh added the soldiers are appreciative of anything they receive. "This is a cause that's really important and everyone can do something. These men are committed and they need our support," she said. "The knitting club makes beautiful blankets." The current members of the club include Claire Sussman, Rose Rockoff, Florence Weinstein, Iris Miller, Bernice Scher and Millie Sherbel. The ladies of Greenbriar also donate hand-knitted caps to the CentraState Medical Center women's cancer unit; small lap afghans to a veterans hospital in New Jersey; and afghans to Project Linus. Project Linus is a nonprofit organization which provides support and a sense of security to children who are seriously ill, traumatized, or otherwise in need through gifts of handmade blankets and afghans. Sussman said that when the club started 10 years ago she put an ad in a newspaper seeking anyone who might be interested in participating. She said there was a big turnout and residents from all over Marlboro donated yarn and afghans to the group. "That's what started the club, by people donating to me," she said. This year the ladies sent a suitcase full of afghans to a veterans hospital in Israel, the Zahal Disabled Veterans Fund at the Beit Halochem Hospital in Tel Aviv. The organizations the knitting club donates to are very appreciative, Sussman said. "This year was a great year for us. Getting the thank you letters is very satisfying, especially when we hear from the wounded soldiers who are laying with our afghans," she added.