MONROE — Megan Johnson is on a mission.
On Thursday morning, the 17-year-old plans to bundle up and pull a red wagon full of handmade hats and scarves through Seattle giving the warm clothes away to homeless people.
“I think that’s a pretty cool way to spend Thanksgiving,” Johnson said.
The Federal Way teenager has done things to help others in the past, but this year is different.
The 150 colorful, handmade hats she’s passing out all were crocheted and knitted by inmates at the Monroe Correctional Complex.
Johnson picked them up Tuesday at the prison.
“It’s a good fit for us to be able to help her help the community,” said Alan Guay, 47.
It takes Guay about two hours to finish making one hat. He’s serving an 18-year-sentence for a child molestation conviction.
He said he listens to Bible passages while he knits winter hats in his prison cell.
“I pray over it as I’m making it,” Guay said.
Guay said he’s made as many as 600 hats in the eight months he’s been participating in the crafts program in the Twin Rivers Unit.
The hats, quilts and other craft projects, all made on a volunteer basis by inmates, are sent to various nonprofit groups as part of the Community Aid Coalition, said Bryan Belcher, who runs the program for the prison.
Yarn, fabric and other materials are donated, he said. As many as 30 prisoners participated in making the hats donated to Johnson’s Thanksgiving giveaway.
Belcher met Johnson at a Shriners of America event and was inspired by her story. She’s a patient ambassador for the charitable group and often speaks at their conferences.
Johnson has hemifacial dysplasia, a rare medical condition that causes the bones in her face to grow at different rates. She’s legally blind in one eye. The high school junior has had 26 surgeries and more are planned.
She started Megan’s Mission when she was 10, inspired by the care she’s received at ÂShriners Hospital for Children in Portland, Ore.
“Since I know a thing or two about hospitals, I have a compassion for helping,” she said.
She’s collected and distributed videos for area hospitals, raised thousands of dollars for charity projects and helped homeless families get off the streets.
When she learned about the partnership with the prison, she said she thought it was a great idea to help with her annual Thanksgiving clothing giveaway.
“What’s so neat about it, they can help me help others and help society while doing time here,” Johnson said.
The project also will help her become eligible for a Girl Scout Gold Award.
Still, she said it’s not about earning awards. The effort is about helping people in need.
“I couldn’t have done it without my friends and the prison residents, my family and, of course, God,” she said.
Reporter Jackson Holtz: 425-339-3437 or jholtz@heraldnet.com.
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