A couple of months ago, I was reading some article in a regional newspaper where a group had started doing charity knitting for U. S. military personnel...One of the founders of the group was quoted as saying something along the lines of "Knitters don't really do very much charity work, so we thought this would be a good idea!"
It totally blew me away, since everyone I know who does any sort of fiber art is big into knitting/crocheting for charity...I would guesstimate that at least 40% of the yarn stuff I do is for charity...And anyone who took a peek at Ravelry would be mightily impressed at the number of groups steadily toiling away, producing literally hundreds of beautiful items for dozens of different charity projects all over the globe...
If you like animals, you can make cuddly soft blankets for dogs at animal shelters...Dulaan makes warm items for homeless children in Mongolia...Afghans for Angels helps grieving parents cope with the loss of their child...The Ships Project sends warm items to deployed servicepeople...
Comfort for children going through traumatic events? Binky Patrol!
Something soft and warm for a seriously ill child? Project Linus!
Hats 4 the Homeless! The Mother Bear Project! Warm Up America!
Hell, even Plimouth Plantation needs knitters to help out with period stockings for their historic reenactors!
Even if you just need to destash, places like Interim House will take your excess yardage off your hands for their (way cool!) knitting and crocheting rehabilitation groups! (Check out the beautiful projects made with donated yarn here.)
My friends and I have a couple of charities that we work for, the newest one being Mittens for Akkol...Children in orphanages in the former Soviet Union face a very bleak future--Russians rarely adopt children and the common view seems to be that orphans are "defective" in some way...There is no support system when the children leave the orphanage around age 16 or so...Mittens for Akkol makes warm items for all the children in the Akkol Orphanage in Kazakhstan, and puts together special 'graduation gifts' for the teens who are aging out of the system...There's some more info about the project here as well...
Personally, my very favorite charity project is one I've Blogged about several times before, Afghans for Afghans...You can find the latest news about the group's work on a recent NPR radio segment...Also, a Very Cool slideshow with pics of the volunteers out in San Francisco!
"We can't help everyone, but everyone can help someone."--Dr. Loretta Scott
