Two new projects have been brought to my attention lately, which I’d like to share, both of which are accepting donations until December 10th. Both of these projects are not only for wonderful causes, but they are both for causes that are very near and dear to my heart for two very different and very personal reasons.

Supernaturale 6th Annual Scarf Drive

All donations go to Sanctuary for Families, a New York non-profit that helps women and children affected by domestic violence. This annual drive is very special to me for two reasons. This is first drive I ever sent a knitted donation for charity to! It’s mentioned briefly in the book, and I still remember shipping those scarves off and being so happy to be able to do something for people who had been through so much.

While fortunately I’ve never been in a domestic violence situation, I have been in abusive relationships. They were long ago, in what now, thankfully, seems like another lifetime. But I will never forget the powerlessness, the helplessness and the confusion involved in them, and how they turned my little world completely upside down for a long time. I’m still quite gunshy when it comes to trusting people as a result, and still wonder what could have healed more completely if I had gotten help at the time.

So sending those scarves to those women for the first time, I felt like I was sending them all my love and hope and acceptance in those stitches created by my hands. It was my greatest hope that they would wrap them around themselves to keep them warm and know that somewhere someone was rooting for them and sending them strength. It is for reasons like this that I earnestly believe in the power and the sanctity of the handmade and giving and loving without expecting reciprocity. Clicking either the link above or the photo will take you directly to more information about what types of scarves to send and where to.

Mama to Mama: Caps to Cap Haiti Project

Mama to Mama is a new craftivism project started by the always inspirational Soulemama that is collecting newborn caps and receiving blankets for safe birthing kits for new mothers and babies in Haiti via Konbit Sante, an organization created to improve Haitian healthcare.

According to Mama to Mama, in northern Haiti:

* Just 1 in 5 women receives skilled medical care during childbirth.
* Haiti has the highest maternal mortality ratio in the Western Hemisphere.
* 1 in 40 women will die as a result of pregnancy complications, unsafe abortion, or obstetrical emergency.
* Twelve percent of children die before the age of 5

My personal interest in this is due to a long-time concern regarding the health and welfare and newborns and their mothers, especially those with premature babies. In 1975, I was born 3 months early, a thousand miles away from where my parents were from, while they were on vacation. When I was in my early teens, I visited the NICU I was in for 3 months, and was shocked at the teeny tininess of the infants. The fear for my survival can still be seen in the faces of my parents and relatives as they relive the first few months of my life and how I fit entirely in my uncle’s hand.

Thirty-three years later, my birth still evokes heavy emotions from them. And I was born in a modern Cincinnati, Ohio hospital! What about all the babies that are born with problems to scared new mothers in countries without all of our technological might? They, too, need to be comforted and held and listened to like my own mother was. But in countries where so many horrible things are happening simultaneously, how can everyone be heard and comforted and listened to? The links above will take you directly to more information and what to make and where to send donations.

Both these new mothers and new infants, as they begin their new roles in life, need the same warmth and comfort and hope that the women and children affected by domestic violence do in New York. Or the children of Iraq and Afghanistan. Or the hurricane victims still suffering from Katrina. Or any of the hundreds of thousands of people that receive donations all over the world from charities.

The trick to starting to live more compassionately and openly is by figuring out where you’d like to help and for what cause…something determined by your own life experiences and histories. And then to reach out and do some good for others, whether it’s for someone in your own life who needs some help and support or for someone across the world. By being a tiny part of the change you’d like to see (or even the change you’d like to have), you’re causing tiny ripples, ripples that perhaps one day will become waves.