GENESEO, Ill. — At St. Malachy School in Geneseo, Illinois, you will find Chelsie Pettie in the lunch room. Working with students and showing them love is one of her biggest life passions.
Megan Dwyer has three children that attend the school, and she can see how much Pettie has left a mark on her kids.
“My kids attend St. Malachy School, and Miss Chelsie has been in the lunch room and just gone out of the way to make each kid feel special and loved," Dwyer said.
Pettie has worked at the school for two years, and during the holiday season, she knits a hat for every student. In 2024, she even knitted a heart-shaped key chain for each child for Valentine's Day. The extra mile she goes to make the students feel special earned her the Pay It Forward award, sponsored by Ascentra Credit Union.
Pettie picked up knitting and crocheting as a hobby about 10 years ago and decided to combine that hobby with her love of gift-giving.
“Mostly I do it because I like seeing the joy on people’s faces seeing something handmade gifted. It’s just something you can’t replace with something’s that store bought," Pettie said.
Pettie has knit hundreds of hats for the children over the past several years. During the last school year, she wanted to make the hats a little more special to each child.
“I wanted to make it personal for them this year too, so at the very beginning of the school year they each got a little waiver to take home that asked them their favorite color, their favorite sport, their favorite book character, their favorite movie character," Pettie said.
Pettie said it only takes her between 15 to 20 minutes per hat, but she makes over a hundred each year. All the time and effort goes into making each child feel important, seen, and loved.
“Not everybody gets that love. Not everybody gets that affection. And I wanna be that person to give it. I have a lot to give," said Pettie
Do you know someone who goes above and beyond for his or her community? News 8 and Ascentra Credit Union would like to help you Pay it Forward to them. Click here to nominate someone you know.
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