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Transcript/ScriptUSAGM SHARE
((PLAYBOOK SLUG: Loose Ends Knitting Project– Vishneva
HEAD: ‘Loose Ends’ provides closure one project at a time
TEASER:
PUBLISHED: 04/xx/2024 at
BYLINE: Nina Vishneva
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: New York
VIDEOGRAPHER: Vladimir Badikov, Natalia Latukhina
SCRIPT EDITORS: KEnochs; Page
PRODUCER: Natalia Latukhina, Anna Rice
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA, see courtesies
PLATFORMS: TV only
TRT: 3:30
VID APPROVED BY: KE
TYPE: TVPKG
UPDATE))
((INTRO:))
[[When a person dies, it often falls to their children, loved ones, lawyers or even friends to sort through the things they’ve left behind. Sometimes, those things are unfinished projects or hobbies, that’s where the group Loose Ends comes in. Nina Vishneva has the story, narrated by Anna Rice.]]
((NARRATION))
((NATS))
((Jessica Campbell, Loose Ends Client))
“This is my grandma’s knitting bag, this is her collection of needles I’ve inherited, and I’m working my way through it, trying to do it justice…”
((NARRATOR))
On top of needles and yarn, Jessica Campbell inherited an unfinished throw her grandma started before she died in September 2023.
Campbell says she tried knitting as a teenager, but never had enough patience. She would have loved to finish her grandma’s work but didn't know where to start. Until someone at her local yarn store suggested she gave Ruth McKenzie a call.
((Ruth McKenzie, Loose Ends Project Volunteer))
“I have been knitting since I was a child. My grandmother, for whom I am named, taught me, I don’t even remember how old I was… And I made a few projects as a tool to help me quit smoking.”
((NARRATOR))
Ruth McKenzie is a reading teacher by training and a passionate knitter in her free time. She is also one of volunteers with the international project called Loose Ends that helps people finish knitting projects started by late loved ones.
McKenzie happily agreed to help Campbell finish her grandmother’s throw, but as is often the case, there was no pattern, no descriptions or details left.
McKenzie managed to knit the missing bits except for one final square. So, she started asking Campbell questions.
((Jessica Campbell, Loose Ends Client))
“If there was maybe some meaningful word or symbol we could put up here. And so, my grandma became Tutu – it’s what we called her when my children were born, instead of great-grandmother… And so, Ruth made a square… [[shows]]”
((NARRATOR))
The Loose Ends project where McKenzie volunteers came to life thanks to two friends, Jen Simonic and Masey Kaplan.
((Jen Simonic, Loose Ends Project Founder)) ((Skype))
“Last summer, our friend Patty lost her mother to cancer. Patty’s mom had started two blankets, one for each of her sons, and as I sat there thinking about how I was going to crochet this massive blanket, because I love my friend Patty, but I don’t like crocheting, Masey
((Mandatory courtesy: 60 Second Docs + YouTube Logo))
said, ‘I’ve been thinking a bout creating a group…’”
((End courtesy))
((Masey Kaplan, Loose Ends Project Founder)) ((Skype))
“So, since starting Loose Ends in the fall of 2022, we have welcomed about 19,000 volunteer finishers worldwide from
((Mandatory courtesy: 60 Second Docs + YouTube Logo))
65 different countries.”
((NARRATOR))
All the volunteers work for free. And it’s not just knitting –
((End courtesy))
they also crochet and weave, among other things. Families whose loved ones had been working on a project can come to Loose Ends to get the project finished.
In the 18 months since the project started, over 2500 families have received a finished project thanks to Loose Ends. Campbell did too.
((Ruth McKenzie, Loose Ends Project Volunteer))
“This organization is a real light in the darkness.”
((Jessica Campbell, Loose Ends Client))
“The fact that there are people in the world willing to give their heart and time and energy to someone else’s family, to finish someone else’s project, to see through what someone’s loved one was working on, it just renews your faith in humanity…”
((NARRATOR))
The project creators say they understand how important it is to have something your loved one has made, and that’s why they want to help, one stitch at a time.
((For Nina Vishneva in New York, Anna Rice, VOA News.))
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