Fidget Chicks (Texas Country Reporter)

Learn how this special group is using their sewing and stitching skills to help fight Alzheimer's and Dementia. Li Cross Granbury, TX Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TCRbob

Video Script:: 

we go to thrift stores we go to garage sales it's fun finding things that would go on them it may look like trash day here in Granberry but these bags aren't filled with your ordinary garbage they're stuffed with toys and goodies all ready to be sorted one by one we love toys and items that are vintage that bring back a memory from their childhood little Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse things things that bring back a memory to even their childhood that's the kind of things we like most on them but we put all kinds of stuff on these mats we find baby clothes and we put them on cuz they have little snaps and things on them and they make people smile when they see that the little outfit the little tiny booties and socks we love to put those on buttons zippers and beads line the walls in organized fashion transforming ly crosses house into a texas-sized workshop from drilling in the living room to sewing in the dining room this group of hard at work volunteers have come together to create something unique and it's all because of a shared connection everyone had a loved one and they've been through this they realized that they just sit in a wheelchair or in their bed and have nothing to do they don't smile anymore they can't talk anymore and they fidget so that's where we got our name the fidgets chicks Lujan named us your husband my husband named us me one day he just looked up and said fidget chicks and we started giggling and we gave herself the name [Music] each one of the fidgets chicks is currently caring for or has lost a loved one with dementia or Alzheimer's the toys and trinkets they gather artists Owen stitch on to what Lee calls digit mats it's an idea that came from her own father who used one of these mats during his battle with Alzheimer's tell me about the fidget chick where did this whole idea come from my dad had passed away from Alzheimer's and my mom told me after he passed that he had a fidget mat the last few days a little woman from hospice made him a sensory mat that had different fabrics and some elastic poles on it and she thought it was unique it made him smile he hadn't smiled in probably two years he didn't know our names he wouldn't talk anymore but he saw that mat and it had just different objects on it and he would feel it and smile and look at her and touch it again and it did something it was just brought some light into his life after they've stamped their approval of love the fidgets chicks are off to the nursing home it's here where all their work pays off as they hand out the mats they receive their reward it's a laugh a smile things that are rare for those in memory care this little lady hadn't spoken a word in two years and we gave her a fidget mat she grabbed a little hair curler on it and she went I used to wear these in my hair then the staff went crazy because they're gone she's not said a word in two years are you talking and I'm gone my gosh it's amazing to see some of the response that we get Lee knows what Alzheimer's and dementia can do to a person she's seen it firsthand with her own father but she's also seen how everyday people can play a part in improving other's lives with these diseases she hopes to inspire others around the world to take up the art of fidget mats and if she can succeed in that Lee knows she's carrying on her father's legacy [Music] I'll go in in one place I took in some mats and open them up and the activity director said go ahead and put them out and I did in these little women and their wheelchairs come rolling out of their rooms and up to the tables and they started talking to each other it one goes oh look at that man oh look at this one in and the staff comes out and they went oh my gosh they're talking to each other they don't do that here they don't they can't normally they don't say anything yeah but dementia patients they generally don't converse with other patients and they said oh my gosh look what you started Lee how does that make you feel I cried all the way home it was so touching to see that how it affects people it's I mean it changes lives and that's why we do it that's what keeps us going [Music] you