When Lynda Morris’ son was born nine weeks early in 1984, he came home from the hospital connected to a machine to monitor his vitals.
Morris said the newborn would pull on the cords, sometimes triggering false alarms and causing stress.
Now, more than 40 years later, there’s a solution to Morris’ dilemma, which is shared by many families with babies born prematurely.
Organizations like Close Knit Friends gather crocheted octopuses with stretchy legs to donate to premature babies. Babies can tug on the stretchy legs instead of cords and IVs, plus the crocheted companions help regulate babies’ heartbeats.
When Morris — who lives in the Reno Nevada Stake — heard about Close Knit Friends’ need for crocheted octopuses through JustServe.org, she knew she wanted to contribute.
“The preemie octopuses can have a positive impact not only on the preemie babies but also on the parents who may be struggling with the demands that a pre-term baby brings to a family,” she said.
Stakes in Nevada began working with Close Knit Friends to make octopuses at the beginning of 2025. Due to the difficulty of the crochet pattern, the organization had previously struggled to gather enough octopuses to meet the needs of the local neonatal intensive care unit. By October 2025, project organizers said they had received enough to last the NICU for two years.
Airiel Altemara of the Reno Nevada Mount Rose Stake lives with a disability that makes physical activity, such as helping someone move in or out of a house, difficult for her. She enjoyed crocheting the octopuses because it was service she could do from home. The project helped her feel more included.
“As I have worked on this project through the past year, I’ve met more people in my ward and even shown some how to crochet as well,” Altemara said. “It’s helped me feel more of an integral part of my ward family.”
Trisha Nugent, also of the Reno Nevada Mount Rose Stake, feels that making the octopuses is a way she can use her talents for good.
“I often feel I don’t have showy talents, but I love that this is one talent unique to me — taught to me by my mother — that I can use to serve others in my quiet way,” she said.
Like these members in Nevada, many Church members are using their creative talents to bless others. Following are three more service projects highlighting how members can use their talents to serve.
Wigs and beanies for cancer patients
Community members in Blanding, Utah, banded together on Oct. 25, 2025, to make 64 princess wigs and superhero beanies for children undergoing cancer treatments. The wigs were donated to the Magic Yarn Project to be shipped all over the world.
Rossi Holliday — a 2-year-old girl from Blanding who finished her cancer treatments in May 2025 — received a Rapunzel wig at the event.
“I felt overwhelming gratitude,” said Rossi’s mom, Sydney Holliday. “Seeing so many women come together to give my daughter and so many other families and children such a meaningful gift was incredibly touching and something I will never forget.”
Although 60 volunteers were originally requested, nearly 120 people showed up to help make the wigs, each of which required two hours of work.
“The project went beyond my expectations,” said project organizer Kathy Hurst. “The turnout was better than expected.”
Baby quilts from scraps
Grace Ann Skousen of the Gilbert Arizona Stapley Stake had been volunteering with Days for Girls International — an organization that provides washable menstrual pads to women and girls around the world — for 10 years. As she cut and sewed the fabric pads, she noticed she had a lot of scrap fabric.
“And as any good quilter with pioneer blood in them knows, you can make something out of the scraps,” Skousen said.
With another woman on the Days for Girls team, Susan Whitfield, Skousen set out to make quilts using the scraps.
The two women prepared quilts to be tied at their stake’s 9/11 Day of Service, and when the quilts were finished, Skousen looked on JustServe to find somewhere to donate them. She found Gathering Humanity, an organization that provides blankets and other furnishings to refugees in the U.S.
When dropping off the donated quilts, Skousen took a tour of the Gathering Humanity facility. She said learning about the people the organization serves made the project so much more meaningful.
The experience helped Skousen feel hopeful and showed her that she could help others in the midst of tragedies around the world.
“I can serve folks in my own community, and I can find the ways to do it on JustServe,” she said. “That helps me feel like I am making a difference — real change, local and doable.”
Pillows for cardiovascular patients
For four years, Carrie Langlois, president of the Round Rock Texas Stake Relief Society, has been holding a Silver Belles luncheon for women in her stake over the age of 60. She said it’s a time for the older women to feel seen and celebrated.
Their most recent luncheon, Dec. 3, 2025, featured a service project: sewing heart-shaped pillows to aid children recovering from cardiovascular surgery. Patients can squeeze the pillows to relieve chest pain when they cough.
Langlois said the luncheons haven’t included service projects in the past but likely will going forward because the women enjoyed it so much.
“I think they felt very needed and very useful doing the project,” she said.
The stake communications specialist found the project and cut out patterns for the hearts. At the luncheon, women stuffed 85 pillows and stitched them closed. Langlois said the ladies stayed at the luncheon longer than usual, chatting and sewing. Two women even volunteered to take the extra material home to finish on their own.
Langlois said participating in the project was a tender mercy for the women, helping them feel special and included.
