Making crafts for charity can be a very big job! It is a good idea to keep a journal or some kind of record of what you have for which group. You can also document through your journal which patterns and supplies you have used, so you can repeat successes and avoid failures or materials you were less than happy with.

A review of The Knit & Crochet Journal, has been reviewed at Annie’s Attic, a well-known supplier of crafts. There are three journals: Quilting, Sewing, Knitting & Crochet. These are excellent tools for the crafter working with charities - organization is just a click away!

My Heritage Knit & Crochet CD & Journal

My Heritage Quilt CD & Journal

My Heritage Sewing Journal

There is a woman in Colorado who could best be described as a hero. Nan Sullivan’s heart is so big it overflowed from her own family, into all of the children in the world. Faced with her endless need to love and help children who have no families, she figured out a way to help them. Thus “Warm the World,” was born.

Warm the World is a 501(c)3 organization that is dedicated to giving a handmade blanket to every child who needs one. That, just in itself, is a wonderful, and I might add overwhelming goal. But Sullivan took it a step further. She also recognized some other needs such as the difficulty in paying for materials to donate a handmade blanket, delivery of the blanket to the appropriate location, and the inability of those who are elderly or housebound due to health problems, to participate.

Nan Sullivan solved all of the problems by bringing them together. That perhaps is the gift of true genius; using a series of problems, then bringing them together, to solve the largest problem. I was so impressed with her organization. It is a continually evolving work that she has dedicated herself to and brought others into as well.

Sullivan’s organization, Warm the World, supplies the materials for people wishing to participate. In exchange, they have to promise very little: They have to make the blanket, provide one good story, give a word of encouragement, and a blanket pattern the organization can pass on to other volunteers to use. Warm the World will also arrange to pick up the blanket and see it goes to the child needing it the most.

Warm the World has done all of the work. Now it is up to volunteers to do their part. I got a kick out of looking at the photographs of people participating, particularly the students at the Air Force Academy. That young man seems determined to get this knitting thing down!

Visit Nan at Warm the World and see if there is a fit for you. Without a doubt, there is something you can do - they need yarn, knitters, crocheters, and other volunteers. I’m sure they have a place for you.

Warm the World

Few things can be worse than going through a pregnancy, waiting for a new baby to enter into the family, and then leaving the hospital with empty hands. Women who deliver babies who are either stillborn or die shortly after birth, suffer in ways we can’t even imagine. The worst aspect of this loss is that quite often society, unintentionally, does not ever validate the life of that child and the parents are told, “You can always have another one.”

It doesn’t work that way. Each life is unique and precious and parents need to have others validate and affirm that life that was lost. This organization has taken on one of the toughest reaching-out projects that exists: Meeting the sorrow of those parents and creating something to validate the life of their child.

This is a perfect craft for people who paint (freehand painting or tole painting, as examples) and enjoy working with materials to create and design boxes. These are not ordinary boxes either - these are very special memory boxes.

The Memory Box Artist Program is a well put together charity. It is a 501(C)3 so if you can’t paint but would like to help, you can certainly donate to give them financial support, as they are entirely volunteer run. Their Web site provides everything you need - patterns, instructions, photographs of completed boxes… check in with this site and you will be good to go.

They need you and I hope you will consider this as your way of reaching out. More importantly, there are moms and dads who need you. And what could be more important than validating a precious baby’s life?

Memory Box Artist Program

I found a blog that is entirely dedicated to crafting for the benefit of others in need. I like the premise of this blog because it issues a challenge and it provides community for the crafters that have joined and become a part of that community.

The blog is called “25 Things For Charity.” The goal is to make 25 things (handcrafted items) for charity in a 12 month period. Although 12 months is obviously a year, it is a rotating project, which means you can join any time.

That 25 things, averages out to roughly two a month. For little items, that is easy - chemo hats and toys are pretty fast projects. But some of these crafters are making beautifully handknit prayer shawls, quilts, and other complex projects.

I believe that the success of these people in accomplishing their goal of 25 things in a 12 month period, comes from the support of each other. It is a perfect situation for crafters who work for charity.

Check them out. 25 Things for Charity will welcome you and let you join at any time. I know you will enjoy the projects, the community, and the purpose of this blog.

25 Things For Charity