In response to my post last week about Haiti, lovely crafter and blogger Kristin from SpinHandspun.com reminded me about Knitters Without Borders.

Knitters Without Borders was started by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (aka The Yarn Harlot) in response to the 2004 tsunami. For the Knitters Without Borders Challenge, she asked knitters to take note of how they were spending their money for one week. During this week, they were asked to put aside money that they would have spent on a “want,” instead of a “need.”

Small change, right? Well, think about how much money you spend on coffee, the newspaper, gum, a new sweater, all the little bits and bobs you purchase during the week that you really don’t need, but just happen to want… just because it’s there. Since 2004, Knitters Without Borders has collected over one million dollars of that supposed “small change,” with the money donated to Medecins Sans Frontieres/Doctors Without Borders!!

Definitely something to think about when you’re too lazy to search for your favorite lip balm/pen/shampoo and just want to go to the corner store and buy a new one. I’d imagine that if you, too, took the Knitters Without Borders Challenge, you’d find yourself with more than just pocket change.

Thanks so much for reminding me of this, Kristin! (You can read her lovely post about KWB over here!)