On May 8, for Parents' Day, the Siheung Sijanggok Comprehensive Social Welfare Center teamed up with a local learning group, the Pen and Thread Handcraft Study, to deliver hand‑knit carnations and handwritten calligraphy letters to area seniors.
The initiative reached 40 households that use the center’s meal‑delivery service.
Members of the club spent months knitting the carnations and composing the calligraphy letters. Volunteers delivered the items with the meals, visited homes to pin the flowers on recipients, and read the letters aloud.
The Pen and Thread Handcraft Study, which led the effort, is a skilled knitting group recently selected for the Siheung City Lifelong Learning Center’s club support program. Since February, members have met every Friday in the center’s learning space to hone their craft, and they organized this project to give their work back to the community rather than keep it to themselves.
One recipient said, "I'm so grateful I could cry. My children couldn't be here today, and receiving this beautiful hand‑knit flower and such a heartfelt letter means the world to me. I won't forget the warmth of someone coming to pin the flower on my chest."
A welfare center official said, "When residents take the initiative to learn and then share what they've made with their neighbors, that virtuous cycle becomes the engine of a healthy local community. We will continue to actively support resident‑led clubs so this culture of care spreads throughout the area."
