Star Tribune
A thread of kindness from Sandstone federal prison to sick kids
SANDSTONE, Minn. — Row by row, stitch by stitch, the toys took shape.
Green dragons and pink pigs and a bunny with multicolored stripes on its ears where the skein of yarn started to run low.
It took time to crochet each one. Hours. Days. But the men incarcerated at the federal prison in Sandstone have time. Some choose to spend that time making gifts for little kids they’ll never meet.
In a visiting area of the low-security federal facility, Luke Keller’s beige prison uniform was offset by the colorful pile of stuffed toys on a nearby table. A zebra. A fox. A monkey hugging its babies tight in its fuzzy arms. A frog wearing swim trunks.
“A lot of us are in prison because we prioritized our own selfish interests,” Keller said. “Being a part of this program, I guess, is the opposite. We’re making a sick child’s day.”
In Project Teddy Bear, it’s not what you did to get here that matters. It’s what you do next.
The next stitch, the next skein, the next child who smiles because there’s a toy made just for them at a Ronald McDonald House in the Twin Cities.
Sandstone isn’t the only prison that offers crochet as a recreational activity. But these men decided years ago that they wanted to give all those toys and blankets and booties away to sick kids and their siblings. Which they did, thanks to other Minnesotans who stepped up for years to donate yarn, stuffing and patterns to the teddy bear project.
Tying this thread of kindness together is Prof. Rebecca Shlafer, her students, their community and one spacious minivan.
“I hope a project like this helps people understand that the folks that we’ve locked up in this country are so much more than the worst thing they’ve ever done,” said Shlafer, an associate professor at the University of Minnesota’s Department of Pediatrics.
She teaches an honors course on the effects of mass incarceration on families. Around 2016, she fielded a call from Sandstone, asking whether the children’s hospital might be interested in some handmade stuffed animals.
Ever since, Shlafer and her students have collected yarn for Sandstone. They’ve visited the prison, met the makers and listened to their stories. When Shlafer posted an appeal on social media this year, donations overflowed her office and garage.
Each donation starts with a conversation about where the yarn will go and why. Which sometimes leads to deeper conversations about mass incarceration in the land of the free and the home of nearly 2 million behind bars.
Doing something for someone else, and expecting nothing in return, “is such a good thing for their minds and bodies and spirits,” Shlafer said. “They learn a new skill. It’s not about an employment skill. It’s the human kindness of it.”
She delivered the latest load of yarn, Poly-Fil stuffing and patterns to Sandstone in June and drove back to the Twin Cities with bags of completed crochet projects for the sick children and their siblings.
Keller volunteers as an organizer for Project Teddy Bear, sorting and distributing the yarn and making sure that all of it comes back as a toy or gift for the little ones.
The Ronald McDonald House charity offers families of sick children a place to stay during treatment. Project Teddy Bear creations not only go to the children who are ill; all their siblings can have a toy, too.
When one of the creations is a big hit — like a recent stuffed giraffe — the charity lets Sandstone know. Three brand-new giraffes peeked out of the pile next to Keller, ready for the next delivery.
“I believe that having a creative outlet for our energy helps keep us out of trouble and the drama while we are in prison,” said Keller, who wrote a few thoughts down before the interview, including this one. “I have created habits that will stay with me. Such as thinking about others before myself.”
He was 23 years old when he was sentenced to 36 years in prison on drug-related charges. That was 18 years ago.
Shlafer will begin collecting more yarn soon to keep up with the surge in demand for cuddly giraffes. All donations will be welcome, but if you’re hesitating over yarn choices, Keller said the men could use more red, black and white yarn, as well as any shade of yellow you think would look good on a giraffe.
When there’s enough yarn to fill a minivan, Shlafer will head back to Sandstone.
“These guys have so much capacity for good,” she said. “We have so much talent locked away.”
When the Minnesota Supreme Court this week declined to hear an appeal by the University of St. Thomas regarding the environmental impact of its new hockey/basketball arena under construction, neighbor and arena foe Dan Kennedy said the “ethical” thing for the university to do was stop construction until neighbor concerns are addressed.
Not going to happen, university officials said Thursday.
While a public review of a revised Environmental Assessment Worksheet continues through Nov. 7, construction of the 5,000-seat Lee and Penny Anderson Arena continues. In an e-mail Thursday, a university spokesman said the arena is expected to be completed in fall 2025.
“The University of St. Thomas is aware of the Minnesota Supreme Court’s decision to deny its petition to appeal and is reviewing the potential impacts of this decision,” an emailed statement from St. Thomas said. “Last week, the City of St. Paul published an updated EAW for public comment, and that process will continue. Construction of the Lee & Penny Anderson Arena will also continue, as permitted by law.”
But Kennedy said he believes that decision is not only wrong, but illegal. Because the state Court of Appeals this summer ruled the project’s first environmental review was inadequate, its site plans and building permits are invalid, said the president of Advocates for Responsible Development.
“We need somebody to specifically tell the University of St. Thomas that they must comply with the law,” Kennedy said. “This is an institution of higher learning, with a law school. They should comply with the law.”
Kennedy said he thought the Minnesota Court of Appeals had insisted on exactly that. In August, the appellate court ordered the city and university to conduct a new Environmental Assessment Worksheet. The previous assessment didn’t do enough to study the arena’s potential harm to the neighborhood’s parking, traffic and air quality, the court ruled.
“The reason why is that more sunlight in the morning time helps reinforce waking up, and having less light in the evening is less stimulation,” he said. “So when we’re winding down, preparing for sleep, having fewer hours of sunlight in the evening can help promote that process of falling asleep.”
Akingbola acknowledges that it can be sad to walk out of work or school when it’s already dark out, but in the long run, standard time is the way to go.
The U.S. already tried daylight savings year round in 1974
Despite the medical advice, there have been calls in recent years to make daylight savings time permanent.
Sen. Mary Kiffmeyer, R-Big Lake, tried to pass a bill as recently as 2021 to make daylight savings time permanent, but it did not pass the Legislature.
The U.S. tried once before. According to Minnesota Star Tribune archives, due to an energy crisis, President Richard Nixon passed a law in January 1974 that made daylight savings a year-round thing.
A month into it, the Minneapolis Tribune ran an article saying there were calls to reverse the decision because there were more accidents in the pre-dawn darkness, particularly involving school children waiting for the bus. Under daylight savings time in January, sunrise wasn’t until well after 8 a.m. in Minnesota.
Karl-Anthony Towns may be in New York City, but his heart is in Minnesota.
On Wednesday night, Towns had some sweet seats for a Billie Eilish show at Madison Square Garden with his partner, Jordyn Woods, when she caught him watching the Timberwolves play the Chicago Bulls in a preseason game on his phone. Her video, posted to her Instagram story, made rounds on social media Thursday.
In the video, flames are literally spewing out from Eilish’s stage, lights are flashing all around and others in the crowd are head bobbing. And there is Towns, holding his phone in both hands and muttering to himself as the Timberwolves are down 88-75 late in the third quarter in a meaningless game.
“I promise he was enjoying the concert,” Woods wrote in the video’s caption.
The Wolves would go on to lose that game, 125-123. A nail-biter.
Towns’ trade to the New York Knicks for Julius Randle and others stunned the NBA world and all of Minnesota, where he was a beloved player for nine seasons and a leader on a team rapidly ascending toward championship contention.
“It was a lot of emotions,” Towns said. “Some amazing moments and times in nine years of my life in Minnesota, a place that I’ve called home. Guys who are not just teammates to me but brothers. We were like brothers. It definitely was a wild day, definitely coming to work.”
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