My Charity Work

Good morning.

I figured since Derya blogged about my charity work, I would expand on it.  First of all, the quote from my e-mail to Derya best describes my work.

"My New Year's resolution, every year since 2003, has been to make an average of at least one item for charity each day.  Every year I have beat that goal.  For many of those years, I have made over 1000 items.  That goal has been beaten while dealing with fibromyalgia.  One year I had shoulder surgery and this year, I did it after dislocating and fracturing my shoulder last December.

Who have I made these items for and what have I made?  NICUs (booties, hats, afghans, sweaters), infant loss programs (burial outfits, afghans), hospice (magnets, ornaments), nursing homes (lapghans, scarves, hats), the military (hats), animal shelters (cat toys - from otherwise unusable yarn like stained yarn).  I think those are the main groups."

Yes, I am proud of what I do, but my circumstances allow me to be able to do this.  First of all, I am disabled with fibromyalgia so I don't work.  I also don't have any children to take care of and we aren't caregivers for either set of parents.  In other words, I have time.

For many, time is so limited that doing even one item a month may be impossible.  For those, if they can donate even a few dollars, that can go a long way as well.  Take the Ships' Project as an example.  Here is a link in case you aren't familiar with the group.

http://www.theshipsproject.com/Home.htm

It doesn’t matter how many items Ellen receives, if she doesn’t have the money to send them on to the troops, they don’t do any good.

````````  (a comment from the cat – he stood on the keyboard)

Speaking of cats, one of the things I make is cat toys for the local shelters.  This was originally started to use up some rug yarn that I didn’t know what to do with.  I crocheted a ball and put a jingle bell inside or stuffed it with scraps of fabric from what my serger cut off.  I also used little scraps of fabric and made tiny sacks that I stuffed and added a touch of catnip to enhance.  I then sewed across the top to seal them.  These are simply a way to use resources that otherwise would be thrown away.  When I get a bag, I go to a big box pet store that has animal adoptions that day.  I go in and hand them the bag and ask if they would like some cat toys for their cats.  I have yet to be turned down.

A note for those of you who are making booties, slippers, mittens, or socks for charity.  If you tie both pieces together with a piece of thread or yarn, it is more likely both pieces will make it to the recipient.  When I do baby sets, all pieces are tied together.

Have a good day.