TOMS RIVER – When Debbie Trainor picks up her knitting needles, it’s more than a hobby – it’s a mission. As the founder and president of the non-profit Each Stitch Counts, Trainor has woven her passion for knitting into a helping hand for families experiencing hygiene insecurity. The organization distributes handmade cotton dishcloths attached to bottles of dish soap to food pantries across Ocean and Monmouth Counties.
A Toms River resident and retired public school business administrator, Trainor dedicated 35 years of her career to ensuring students and staff had the resources they needed. Knitting has been a steady thread in Trainor’s life, and she especially enjoys creating usable end products. Retirement allowed her to spend more time knitting and volunteering with The Hope Center, a local organization devoted to supporting individuals and families in crisis with dignity and compassion.
“I’ve been knitting since I was a little girl, and I decided to design some new stitch patterns for one of the things I love to knit,” shared Trainor. “So, I started knitting dishcloths as something that had great use.”
From this idea, Each Stitch Counts was born. While volunteering at the Hope Center, Trainor noticed their food pantry lacked cleaning supplies for distribution. “It dawned on me to take all these dishcloths I had knitted, attach them to bottles of dish soap, and bring them to the pantry,” she said.
What started as a small gesture quickly turned into a mission to address hygiene insecurity – something often overlooked in communities struggling with food insecurity. And it’s something Trainor no longer does alone.
Since its founding in 2022, Each Stitch Counts has grown rapidly, distributing over 745 bottles of dish soap in its first year. By 2023, that number had climbed to 2,001 bottles; last year it reached 3,000 – a 268% increase. Corporate sponsors like OceanFirst Bank, M&T Bank, and the Toms River Rotary have supported the mission.
A Wishlist for dish soap links to Walmart, while Premier Yarns contributes by offering free patterns on the organization’s website. A company called The Gripper donates the labels on the soap bottles to keep them from popping open and spilling.
A Network Of Compassion
While Trainor doesn’t crochet herself, a network of volunteers spanning across the country have contributed their hooking skills to add to the collection of handmade dish towels. Each Stitch Counts’ website contains easy to follow instructions for both knit and crochet dishcloths,
“I have volunteers all over the country and locally who knit and crochet dishcloths and send them to me,” Trainor explained. “Then, I also have students and businesses that organize dish soap drives to help supply the other half of the gift.”
Trainor collects the donations and attaches them to 12- or 16-ounce bottles of dish soap. Volunteers help with the packaging, making them look extra special. Each bottle comes with a tag saying the dishcloths are handmade with good wishes to provide a little help with the dishes.
“Every month, we donate between 60-100 of them to as many of the food pantries as we can,” said Trainor, who does most of the deliveries on her own. The distribution list includes nearly 20 food pantries in Ocean and Monmouth Counties. The Hope Center, Seeds of Service in Brick, St. Luke’s Church Pantry, and the Lacey Food Bank are among them.
“The people who run the food pantries tell me how special these donations feel. The recipients are thrilled to get a handmade dishcloth – it makes them feel cared for,” Trainor shared.
More Than Just Soap
The organization’s impact extends beyond dish soap. Earth Breeze, a company that donates 10 laundry detergent packages for every package sold, provided Each Stitch Counts with over 1,000 detergent packages in 2024. “That allowed me to add even more value to the donations,” Trainor said.
Trainor’s creativity doesn’t stop there. On her personal website, Stitches by Debbie, she offers knitting patterns and highlights her book, “A Hug from Henry.” The book, which includes a pattern for knitting a 5-inch bear named Henry, is designed to bring comfort to children and families.
How You Can Help
Trainor encourages anyone inspired by her mission to get involved. “Not everyone can knit or crochet, but there are plenty of ways to help,” she said. Links on the Each Stitch Counts website provide options to purchase dish soap, host dish soap drives, donate gift cards, or become an ambassador to local food pantries.
For Trainor, this isn’t just about knitting – it’s about knitting together a community of care, one stitch at a time.
