The Women’s Club of Vista has worked with Vista Community Clinic (VCC) since 2017, bringing in hand sewn teddy bears for pediatric patients, and plush blankets and knitted hats for newborns. They call their projects “covers of love” because, as a spokeswoman for the club states,
“those precious newborns are covered head to toe in hats and blankets made with love.”
So when a boy scout contacted the club late last year looking for a way to complete a community project, the ladies knew exactly who could use the help.
It just so happened that the 16 year old scout was looking to become an Eagle Scout, and in order to move from Boy Scout to Eagle, one must complete a series of requirements including a service project. This project must “demonstrate leadership of others while benefit[ting] the community.” Serendipity would have it that these two organizations would come together to complete something that would eventually fall into the hands of young patients at VCC.
The ladies of the Women’s Club were happy to provide their “Covers of Love” as a great project idea for the scout to execute: he’d be making warm blankets for the newborn patients of the community health center. With the project set, he prepared to raise money to buy all of the necessary materials and gather volunteers to make the soft covers over the holidays. In the end he and his team had made 50 fleece blankets to donate, all with different patterns and colors, each perfect for wrapping a new bundle of joy warmly in mom’s arms.
It is truly an honor for the clinic every time the Women’s Club of Vista donates their handmade items. It always brings a smile to the faces of parents of newborns and the children who receive these warm gifts, knowing that they were made special and with love. The Covers of Love projects taken on by this group of community volunteers at the Club exemplifies the support of community work and collaboration. The addition of the Scouts illustrates how this work is being picked up by the next generation, giving us great hope for the future. It is wonderful to see how partnerships among community members come full circle to benefit each of us, from old to young, as the newest Eagle to the Scouts makes a difference in the lives of the newest members of our community.
To learn more about the Women’s Club of Vista, visit them online at https://www.womansclubofvista.org/. You can learn about the services and programs VCC offers, or how you can get involved, at www.vcc.org or follow them on Facebook, Instagram (@vistacommunityclinic), or Twitter (@vcchealthcare).
About VCC
With eight state-of-the-art locations in North San Diego, Orange and Riverside Counties, VCC provides affordable, high quality health care to more than 68,000 community residents. Services offered by VCC include primary care, pediatrics, prenatal and women’s health, optometry, chiropractic care, dental health, podiatry, acupuncture and behavioral health services. VCC also offers a wide array of community health education programs which are free and open to all community residents. VCC is recognized by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) as a Level 3 (highest) Patient-Centered Medical Home, and is the recipient of the HRSA National Quality Leader Seal for exceeding national clinical quality benchmarks. For more information call 760.631.5000 or visit www.vcc.org.
