Crafting for a Good Cause and the Knit for Japan Initiative
13 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
in Charity, Craft Tags: charity, crafting, crochet, Knit for Japan, knitting, prayer shawls
I’m sure that many of you crafters out there have a problem similar to mine – you love making stuff, but as you build up your skills you might end up making a lot of the same type of object…. say, scarves for knitters or blankets for crocheters. Making them is awesome, and it certainly helps you to improve your skill set so that maybe one day (let it come soon, please!!) you can stop making scarves and start on those sweaters, hats or socks you’ve been drooling over on Knitty or Ravelry! But in the meantime, what do you do with that mountain of excess crafts you’ve produced? You already have 10 of them, and your family is swimming in the extras you’ve bestowed upon them. It’s time to branch out and give them to people who need them!
There are plenty of ways to share your craft bounty with your community. Many local churches or religious institutions have prayer shawl clubs, thinking good thoughts and prayers over them while they are being made and then donating them to the needy or to those who have suffered emotionally in the recent past. This is great not only for those receiving the shawls but also for makers who get the benefit of a crafting community. Even if your local church doesn’t have a group, there are many online you can participate in.
Craft Hope is a purely web-based charity that started by a group of mothers who wanted to reach out and help others.
“Craft Hope is a faith-based, love inspired project designed to share handmade crafts with those less fortunate. It is our hope to combine our love for crafting and desire to help others into a project to make a difference around the world.
Craft Hope was born over tea at the kitchen table. The amazing creations that we watch day after day on your blogs have inspired us to begin this new endeavor.”
They set a new project every few months, always something different, new and creative. Their past projects have included pillowcase dresses for children in Brazil, scarves for orphans, and educational bean-bags for poor schoolchildren in Liberia. The most recent project, sock monkeys for children who lost their homes to brush fires in Texas this past summer, has just ended. But a new project will be coming soon, so keep your eyes on their website!
Lastly is something that is near and dear to my heart – a heartfelt new initiative going on in Japan that I learned about over at the Japan Times. They’re covering the story of a German man by the name of Bernd Kestler who’s made his home in Japan and spends his free time collecting crafting supplies and teaching knitting to the people still stuck in the shelters in Tohoku.
FROM THE JAPAN TIMES WEBSITE: "Knit-aid: Bernd Kestler shows off two of the knitted hats donated to his Knit for Japan initiative, which distributes such items to victims of the March 11 disasters, in Tokyo on Dec. 14. KYODO"
“[Kestler] launched his Knit for Japan initiative, which collects hand-knitted and hand-crocheted items including hats, scarves and gloves, knitting tools and materials such as yarn, and then sends the items to people in disaster-hit areas in Tohoku.
Knit for Japan, he said, also aims to empower disaster survivors living in temporary shelters and evacuation centers. Giving evacuees the tools and materials to knit with would enable them to make much-need clothing items and help alleviate their boredom, he said.
“When I watch TV, I see a lot of people in shelters, sitting there doing nothing. . . . If I can give them needles and a ball of yarn, they can knit something so they don’t have to wait for somebody to send them hats,” said Kestler, a native of the German town of Assenheim. ~Japan Times”
Keslter’s website is called Knit for Japan, and you can get more information on how to help on his “about” page there if you’re interested. At the moment, his goal is to outfit an entire shelter full of people with warm hats – about 200. He also needs more supplies for teaching (yarn, crochet hooks, knitting needles, etc). So head on over there and make your crafting count!!!
~MS the Younger
Recent Comments