Heart Transplant Survivor Works To Warm The Homeless
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A Lonsdale woman is taking her second chance at life to give back to people in need.
Elizabeth Sammons was born with a heart defect. In June at the age of 31 she had a heart transplant.
Now, she spends her time helping the homeless by crocheting scarves to help them stay warm. Elizabeth Sammons has spent countless hours crocheting scarves for the homeless.
"I figured out that there's 215 miles of yarn," she said.
She's stored them in tubs in a back room, until she had a number she felt would make an impact.
"I have one thousand and forty-one," Sammons said.
Sammons will take the scarves to St. Paul this Saturday, where she will tie them to trees and poles. A note attached to the scarf explains why this is a gift from the heart.
"I'm not lost but if you are stuck out in the cold please take to stay warm," said Sammons.
For Sammons, this is her calling, to help others because so many have helped her.
"It's a way I can comfort homeless people in their time of need just like God comforted me during my situation," Sammons said.
Sammons was born with a heart defect. Six years ago, she dealt with heart failure. This Summer, she had a heart transplant and since then she's been focused on giving back.
"It's easy to get into a 'woe is me,' and depression," she said. "It's true if you go and do something for somebody else it just takes you out of that. It takes you out of the mind set of, 'Me, me, me,' and you focus on someone else and it just brings you joy."
Sammons says she will take this second chance at life to be a blessing to others, by keeping them warm.
"Just a stranger spreading love that way," she said.
Sammons is looking for volunteers to help pass out the scarves. She will be at Valley Park on Jackson Street in St. Paul at 10 on Saturday morning.
If you would like to help Sammons with her medical expenses, you can donate to her GoFundMe Page.
