Doing crafts for charity helps inmates patch up own lives

HEBER — The cold sterile walls of the Wasatch County Jail hardly foster warmth, especially the warmth that can be felt at home during the winter holidays.

Increased fighting and tension among inmates around that time of year prompted one jail deputy to create a charity program for the prisoners.

"Idle hands ... " said Linda Maxfield, the program's founder. "Every Christmas we would have so many problems with them missing their families because they couldn't be with their children."

It began small, with Maxfield collecting donations of yarn and fabric from fellow deputies' homes.

Taking the raw materials back to the jail, she was determined to teach, convinced that if inmates lost themselves in service the tension in the jail would decrease.

Maxfield showed the inmates how to crochet and quilt, knowing that by keeping their hands and minds busy helping others it would also aid them.

"It really helps in their learning and healing," Maxfield said. "Most of them have been taking from society, this is a way for them to learn to give back — it really has made a big difference in all of them."

The first year the inmates made 12 lap blankets and a number of bunting bags for newborn babies that were donated to a local hospital. They also began to participate in the "Cottages for the Children" gingerbread house making contest, which auctions off the houses and then donates the proceeds to the Children's Justice Center. The justice centers serve as local safe houses where traumatized children are interviewed when they have witnessed a crime or been victimized.

Houses made by the inmates have fetched from $200 to $400 at the annual auction and are highly anticipated by the locals, Maxfield said.

From there the number of projects has grown. The inmates have found themselves busier than ever — often running out of raw materials to make the many afghans, baby clothes, winter hats, scarves, gloves, school bags for children, hygiene kits and stuffed animals.

Deb, who asked her last name not be used, has been a long-standing participant in the charity projects program. She said the ability to help others is the best aspect of the jail because the program not only benefits the recipients but also those who make the gifts.

"If the inmates are sitting around doing nothing, things can get bad — they start fighting," Deb said. "When you give them something to do they become content and happy. They no longer wallow; it is a magical transformation."