charity

Roosevelt Elementary’s 2nd & 3rd Graders Rule!

| Betsy

“Because of her career as the Elementary Spanish program teacher and because of her passion for quilting, Detroit Lakes teacher Pat Link is introducing her students to bringing a smile to those less fortunate.

Through Cultural Collaborative, Amy Tervola Hultberg’s second/third grade combo class made two quilts that will be sent to those in need.”

“Each student was given a block of fabric and fabric markers to draw a picture of hope that would make someone else happy. Those drew smiley faces, rainbows, a butterfly, flower, fish, sailboat, family and more.”

Ms. Link and Ms. Hultberg from Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, might just be some of the awesome teachers ever. They not only had their students literally made something from happy, they also turned the quilting into a learning experience!

“Besides the quilts, the group also held a bake sale and raised $174. The money was used for materials, shipping the quilts and the remainder will be donated to some program, one they haven’t decided on yet. But students got to learn about paying bills — materials for the quilts — what profit is, and they got to count and add up the money they made at the sale.”

I think the only thing I knew about bills at that age was that it seemed like lots of old men were mysteriously called Bill even though their name was really William. (It’s still a mystery to this day. I mean, really, where does that B come from!)

(Text from article)

Also:
*Embroidered plastic bags (!!!) by Maria Cornejo
*I love this post by Alabama Weaver about why she quilts.
*Amazingly awesome post by Jo Bourne about knitting in the 1700s
*Did you know Union City, New Jersey, is the EMBROIDERY CAPITAL OF THE US?
*School knitting club knitting chain mail shirts (I told you knitting’s not for wusses!)
*Timeline for Guilford Mills’ textile plant’s history since 1946: The rise and fall and rise (and fall) of one North Carolina textile plant

Knitters Without Borders

| Betsy

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!)

Charity: Knit-A-Square.

| Betsy

WHO: Knit-A-Square, a charity collecting crocheted and knitted squares for AIDS orphans.

WHAT: Collecting 400,000 squares! 400,000! Enough to make 10,000 blankets! You could also make a vest, a pullover or a hat!

WHAT TO MAKE: 8″x8″ squares. (20×20 cms) 24 squares = 1 baby blanket. 40 squares = child’s blanket. (Knit instructions!) (Crochet instructions!) Make 1 square. Make 400,000 squares. Go for it.

WHY: “This children’s charity serves many of these abandoned children and AIDS orphans both affected by, and infected with, HIV AIDS. It is estimated that there are 11.6 million orphans* in sub-saharan Africa. 1.4 million live in South Africa.” More about these orphans here.

WHERE: The charity is in South Africa. There are a few postal requirements, which you can read about here.

If you’d like to keep up-to-date with this charity, you can sign up for their ezine, Square Circle here. Their website is so great! There’s even a page for pain free knitting!!

*In case you’d like to know how many people 11.6 million really is, it’s about the size of the state of Ohio. Or a little more than the entire population of Greece. Think about it.