craftivism for the holidays

jean · Last edited by jean on Tue Oct 12, 2004 9:21 am; edited 1 time in total

craftinfool and i had a great idea! instead of a scarf-drive this year (if you want to take part in a scarf drive, supernaturale.com is hosting one and we think that's awesome!), let's find a cool craftivism project to donate our time and craftiness to.

so, here's where you come in. here's one idea
www.projectlinus.org knit blankets for babies in need.

but i have a feeling you all could think of some good ones too. once we choose, craftinfool has offered to organize it. so let's figure this out together!

if you have other ideas, please post them here!
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Athos · Joined: 14 Apr 2004 Posts: 446 Location: San Francisco

great idea!

whatever you decide, i'm in! (though the more notice, the better)

Becky65301 · Joined: 18 May 2004 Posts: 80

A favorite of mine is www.newbornsinneed.org

They donate things to hospitals for preemie and very-preemie babies, including hats, onesies, small stuffed toys, and alot of burial gowns. The problem being, regular baby clothes don't fit babies that small, and medical expenses are so high sometimes the families don't have the money to even buy a burial gown, even if they could find one that would fit.

Okay, not exactly ho-ho-ho, but a very worthy organization.

They have free patterns on their site, with crochet, knitting, and sewing, pdf files you can print out so you make the stuff the right size. They will also take receiving blankets and such. They'll even just take fabric donations.

They are a "Christian" organization, but they don't push it hard, I don't know, that might be offensive to some here, I personally don't think it matters as much as they are helping. There are some very touching testimonials and thank-yous on the website worth reading.

kindarana · Joined: 22 Aug 2004 Posts: 767 Location: down by the bay

My mom used to volunteer at the local hospital and there was a group that would make preemie hats - it was often one of the things they would treasure most when the baby didn't make it. It would probably be possible to pick a hospital and send it to them too.

Becky65301 · Joined: 18 May 2004 Posts: 80

Yeah, I think there are several organizations similar, or you could just donate locally.

I'm in a pretty small town and the hospital here transfers preemies out, so I'd have to pick a hospital to send to... in which case, sending stuff to NIN is just as easy.

teeny17 · Joined: 11 Sep 2004 Posts: 40 Location: i hour from toronto

kinda off topic, kinda not..but if you consider halloween a holiday then this works...
this is what i plan on doing for halloween..i'm 17 and up until last year i still went out for candy..(i can pretty much get away with it) but this year i want to do something more useful and important. I'm gonna dress up and go out, but asking people for canned goods and what not and donate them to local organizations that help people in need. I'm gonna tell this to people at my school to get more people involved..maybe if your not gonna party this halloween you'll wanna do something like this..it's an easy way to get involved and make a difference and help people in need in your area.

amanelle · Joined: 13 Apr 2004 Posts: 347 Location: NC

[img]http://www.h4ha.org/snuggles/[/img]

Snuggles are blankets for homeless animals.

kindarana · Joined: 22 Aug 2004 Posts: 767 Location: down by the bay

Just got this one in my inbox, gloves and scarves for prostitutes in DC - it gets cold. [url=http://www.volunteermatch.org/results/opp_detail.jsp?oppid=
73452]

xuli · Posted: Wed Sep 29, 2004 11:42 am Post subject:

I love the idea of doing something for little babies/preemies. So if it came down to voting, I'd go for that, but I'm pretty much open to anything. (Maybe that's 'cos I have so much baby yarn in my stash I need to use!)

One thing I think might be good would be to pick an organization without a religious affiliation. I'm not anti-Christian organizations (in fact, I volunteer very regularly with a Christian organization and have learned a lot from the Christians I volunteer with and have always felt welcome despite not being Christian) ... but I do think that since Getcrafty is such a large and diverse community, it might be best to pick something that has no outright religious affiliations so that everyone feels included and comfortable with what they're doing.

And I like the idea of not doing a scarf drive, too, just because I'm thinking of doing the Glitter one also and since there are so many of us who do participate on both boards, it enables us to do both without making the same thing.
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teeny17 · Joined: 11 Sep 2004 Posts: 40 Location: i hour from toronto

sorry, i should ahve put my little halloweeny thing somewhere else...
but, i'm going to start a knitting club at school, get people involved and make things like baby booties, hats, for preemies and donate them to our local hospital or an organization as some of you have mentioned for helping preemies and their families. Good idea, and again apologies for the halloween thing, it doesn't really uh, go, in here, but a good idea nonetheless.

baltica · Joined: 27 Aug 2004 Posts: 135 Location: portland, or

Count me in w/ the blanket idea (or whatever you all decide on...it's fall and my knitting engine is revving up). I'm knitting two blankets for expectant friends at work, but I can fit another in!

fenestrelle · Joined: 16 Sep 2004 Posts: 43

Yes! My knitting engine is shifting into high gear, too, baltica.

I am up for either hats or blankets and think non-denominational is probably the way to go as well.

anati · Joined: 15 Jun 2004 Posts: 122 Location: massachusetts

i think i might have posted something about this once a little while ago, but there is a foundation called Warm Up America that donates knitted or crocheted afghans to homeless shelters. People can donate completed afghans or squares that are joined to make an afghan.

teeny-im doing the halloween thing too. they call it "halloween for hunger" at my school. the only thing i'm not looking forward to is lugging around canned goods in the cold. but i will live:)
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Becky65301 · Joined: 18 May 2004 Posts: 80

xuli- how 'bout this variation???-- people interested could do the preemie stuff and donate either to one of the organizations, or directly to their hospital of choice? We could all take pics and post them. So it's the same idea, but lets the crafter pick what they're comfy with.

One of the reasons I liked doing something with them is 'cause they can use things from a wide variety of crafts. Like, I don't knit. I do crochet, but no knitting. And if we went with a charity that only does knit stuff, I wouldn't participate. Finding an cause that will take knit, crochet, sewing, the silk-screeners and embroiderers and applique....cause you can do clothing or blankets or.... you get the idea. We'd all be covered somehow, I suspect.

jean · Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2004 8:29 am Post subject: