Shriners in the News

From the Seattle PI

Thanks to teen's compassion, even prison can't bar kindness
Inmates knit items that are donated to homeless

By HECTOR CASTRO
P-I REPORTER

Thursday morning, when most people are likely to be either sleeping or starting early on the day's feast, one teenage volunteer will be out on the cold and empty Seattle streets delivering handmade caps, scarves, gloves and blankets to homeless men and women just as she has for six previous Thanksgivings.

"Sometimes, they are shocked that we are giving these for free," Megan Johnson, 17, said. "Some of them actually cry."

This year, some of the gifts she hands out are coming from an unlikely source -- inmates of the Monroe Correctional Complex.

Tuesday, the Federal Way teenager and her mother, Jill Johnson, were at the prison to collect a donation of 150 hand-knitted caps, all made by inmates working in a small sewing room where shelves are stacked with colorful bolts of cloth and rolls of thread and five sewing machines that date to the 1930s.

Bryan Bechler, a classification counselor for the prison in Monroe, met Megan at a function at Benaroya Hall this summer, where she was a speaker.

Because the work produced by the inmates must be donated, it made sense, he said, to donate their blankets, quilts and other clothing to Megan's efforts.

For inmates who worked on the caps, it means something to them that Megan intends to donate their work to the homeless.

"The important thing is you're doing it for someone else," said Lou DeVincentis, 67, who has sewn several blankets that have been donated.

Another inmate, Alan Guay, 47, began to knit just eight months ago but can now spin out a new hat in about 90 minutes. Guay hasn't met Megan, but through a DVD about her that the inmates were allowed to view, he learned something about her and her charity work.

"We know that she's been through a lot," Guay said.

Megan has several medical challenges, including hemifacial dysplasia, a genetic condition that causes her facial bones to grow at different rates. She has also become blind in one eye. Already, she has endured 26 surgeries to correct problems brought on by these conditions.

Cruel taunts from classmates made grade school tough.

"There was this group of mean girls who would look at me and say, 'Don't you know how ugly you are? If I looked that way, I'd go home and kill myself,' " Megan said.

Megan said the teasing she endured is one reason she chose to help the homeless.

"I know what it's like to be different," she said.

When she was 10, Megan, who began homeschooling after the fourth grade, told her mother she wanted to collect blankets and warm clothes for the homeless.

Jill Johnson said she thinks her daughter was inspired in part by the work of the Shriners, the philanthropic fraternity that operates nonprofit children's hospitals around North America and Hawaii. Megan has been a patient at their Portland hospital since she was 6.

"I thought: 'That's kinda cute. It'll last about a week,' " Johnson recalled of her daughter's intention. "Well, seven years later, here we are."

Megan already has two projects, Kids Helping Kids, which collects children's videos and DVDS for local hospitals, and Megan's Mission, which works to raise money to help the homeless.

She also wrote and illustrated a book, "Clowns Make a Difference," about children in a hospital. Money raised from the book sales go to the Shriners.

In the hundreds of blankets she has donated, Megan always includes a note that reads, "Remember someone cares."

"She hand-writes every single one of them," Jill Johnson said.

Megan's efforts have earned the perpetually cheerful teenager a host of accolades, including the 2002 American Red Cross Hero's Award and the 2004 Washington State Outstanding Youth Philanthropist award.

An avid Girl Scout, Megan said she hopes her work delivering the warm clothing Thanksgiving morning will earn her the Gold Award, the highest honor a Girl Scout can earn.

On Thursday, she said she'll be up by 6 a.m. and, with her family, friends and volunteers who join through their church, hit Seattle's streets by 8 a.m.

Megan will be the one pulling the red wagon.

"I don't know why people think the homeless are evil," she said, "when they're just people like us. We all have feelings."

LEARN MORE


Visit megansmission.freeservers.com to learn more about Megan Johnson and her charitable work.