Crafty Manolo

Look, it’s getting to be the cold, dark time of year and there are a lot of people in need. Actually, there are a lot of people in need all year ’round. That’s the bad news. The good news is that we can use our hands to help make life a little better for someone in need.

If you’d like to take part in helping someone in a time of need, here are a few charities that would love your hand made work:

Care Wear Patterns and Volunteers. A nationwide volunteer group that creates hand knitted, crocheted, and sewn clothes to babies in hospitals. All these items are given for free to babies who need them. Hats, bibs, booties, jackets, blankets, toys, and, sadly, burial gowns are all welcome and needed.

Teddies for Tragedies. This is a Canadian group that sends hand knitted teddy bears to children in desperate situations around the world. Imagine using your knitting skills to put a smile on the face of a child in an orphanage in Romania, Costa Rica, or Lebonon.

Chemo Caps. This group knits and donates caps to oncology wards across the country for cancer patients who have lost their hair due to chemotherapy. Cancer is a rotten disease, and the cure can be nearly as devastating as the cancer itself. A simple cap can help someone retain their dignity and feel as though someone cares.

Love Letters: Random Cards of Kindness, Inc. This group sends handcrafted cards to children facing life-threatening illness. Make your most impressive cards and send them to kids who need an extra bit of courage to face that hospital stay. Oh, and when you check out the site, consider learning how to start a chapter in your area.

Warm Up America! Provides handmade blankets to homeless shelters, domestic violence shelters, and areas hit by natural disasters like floods, earthquakes, and fires. Make a blanket, donate it locally.

Enchanted Makeovers. This is a group on a mission to make shelters for women and children beautiful, peaceful, and welcoming. What do they need? All sorts of things. Blankets and quilts, toys for the children, tote bags, pillowcases… if it would make a home warm and attractive, chances are they would love to have it.

Not feeling any of these projects? Start looking around your own town. Ask at your local crafting supply store, church, or library. Do a search online. Or start your own project. After all, doing good is its own reward.

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 4th, 2010 at 8:30 am by Twistie and is filed under Crafts, Good Works. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.