Lincoln woman knits for underprivileged students

Dottie donates dozens of hand-made hats every year

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Dottie Ladman spends her time hand-knitting hats to donate to Lincoln Public School’s Bubba’s Closet coat drive.

She began knitting in fifth grade, but it really took off in high school when she was trying to earn a few extra dollars.

“I seem to always have something on the needle that I’m working on,” Ladman says.

Ladman was a music teacher with LPS for nearly 30 years and now makes it a tradition to drop off dozens of hand-made hats for Bubba’s Closet.

“I saw the need in there,” Ladman says. “A young man in fifth grade or so, he needed a new hat, but he was afraid to ask his parents for one because his dad had lost his job due to the pandemic. So she was able to supply a warm hat for that young man.”

Ladman says she still gets emails from LPS teachers with stories about students. So giving back is a no-brainer, and she’ll continue to thread the needle for LPS every year.

“I don’t have extra coats lying around, I don’t have children in my house anymore,” Ladman says. “I’m not one that can go up and buy out all of Walmart anymore. But I can knit.”