Concordia nursing student Kristina Fabry, ‘13, not only has a heart for helping others but also for the craft of knitting. She has creatively combined her two passions into a mission to support the Carson Glore School in Kenya through donating hand-made cowels, or scarves, being sold at Moxie Java’s Fargo and Moorhead locations with all of the sales being donated to support the Carson Glore School in Kenya.
Fabry has been knitting for years. Her job this summer was at a yarn store, which helped inspire her further.
“At the end of my summer job, I got this really nice yarn as a bonus and wanted to do something special with it” Fabry said.
Her love of knitting can also be combined with coffee shops as she has also worked as a barista.
“I am such a coffee person,” Fabry said, “and love coffee shop atmospheres.”
Up in the Moorhead region, Fabry is drawn to coffee shop Moxie Java.
“It is just such a supportive atmosphere and great for studying and even knitting” she said.
Fabry was happy to discover that her favorite coffee shop partners with the Carson Glore Foundation, a foundation that works with Build Africa whose main focus is to work with rural areas of Uganda and Kenya to combine learning and earning opportunities to offer children and their families long-term solutions to poverty through education.
The Carson Glore Foundation was started by Fargo local Nathan Nerland. He and his childhood friend, Carson Glore, dreamed of becoming grade school teachers in classrooms next to each other so they could work together the rest of their lives. Things changed in the sixth grade with a tragic accident that left Nerland alone. In 2009, Nerland founded The Carson Glore Foundation to honor his friend by helping build and sustain a school in rural Kenya.
“The moment I found them, I knew this was the perfect way for me to help carry on Carson’s legacy” said Nerland.
Fabry, whose dream is to one day work as a maternal healthcare nurse in Africa, was very responsive to the mission of the Carson Glore Foundation, and she began to knit cowels to help support the foundation.
Fabry created her own unique pattern of cowels and is making her collection in 12 colors. Each cowel sells for $25 a piece and all of the profit is donated to the Carson Glore Foundation. She calls her collection “Desiderata”, translated, “desired things”, after her favorite poem by Max Ehrmann. Part of “Desiderate” reads:
“You are a child of the universe,/ no less than the trees and the stars;/
you have a right to be here./
And whether or not it is clear to you,/ no doubt the universe is
unfolding as it should.”
“I got this poem from my mom when I was a freshman” said Fabry. “It has always meant a lot to me, as I believe that every human has countless worth.”
Fundraising efforts for The Carson Glore Foundation have already successfully raised $33,900 to supply for the major functional needs of the school such as the building, school supplies, new latrines, retraining of the teachers and more. But much more must be raised to cover additional costs, such as two more classrooms and a school committee and board.
Others are also making efforts to support the Carson Glore Foundation. Moxie Java owner Nancy Nerland has created reusable cup cozies to also benefit, as well as various coffee blends for sale and $1 donations from specialty drinks during happy hour.
Fabry continues to help out the community through her knitting skills. She has also partnered with UNICEF, a humanitarian relief for children foundation through her talents and crochets baby blankets that will contribute to the nursing trip to Tanzania in the spring.
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