October was a pretty busy and successful month for Hats Off To Liz! On the 4th we paid a visit to Credit Valley Hospital armed with a bag stuffed to the brim with 58 handmade chemo caps and one lapghan. Later in the month we mailed out 10 chemo caps to a little girl in Colorado, 10 chemo caps to a three-year old in Brantford, Ontario, and 9 chemo caps to a little boy in Windsor, Ontario (all special requests that came in from friends of our team members). We also supplied Credit Valley Hospital with 18 more infant loss sets (burial buntings and hat and blanket sets) as well as four individual blankets.
We managed to get ourselves a little bit of publicity too! We were very excited to be featured on Volunteer Halton's website. Our special article went live at the beginning of the month, complete with a photo of the local team (minus a few absentees), and a link to our website. Donations of new yarn is always welcome, so we're hopeful that the Volunteer Halton piece will help to generate some donations over the coming year. And speaking of donations, we scored our very first corporate yarn donation in October! It is apparently notoriously difficult to procure donated yarn from manufacturers, but we got lucky! Amtex Yarn Manufacturers in Mississauga, Ontario sent us eight skeins of beautiful 100% merino wool. It's washable and soft so it's perfect for chemo caps. We're so grateful for their support! We also paid our second visit to Holy Name of Mary College School, where the grade 5 and 6 classes are still eagerly honing their knitting and crochet skills. Some of the girls are even starting to produce items for us to donate. Their enthusiasm is contagious and we're proud and grateful that they chose to support Hats Off To Liz for their year-long stewardship program. As we head into the start of the beautiful Christmas season, we will be keeping those who are struggling with illness and bereavement close in thought as we create items that we hope will bring them a small measure of comfort during a very difficult time. A special thanks to our awesome family, friends and supporters! We couldn't do what we do without you cheering us on, donating to our cause, and letting us play with yarn as much and as often as we do.
0 Comments
We had a full house at yarn central yesterday! And by the time the needles had stopped clicking, the yarn had stopped flying, and the crochet hooks were tucked safely away, we had 60 chemo caps, 18 infant loss hat & blankie sets (plus four additional blankets and eight additional hats), and one deep blue lapghan. Seems like a pretty successful day to me, if I do say so myself! Of course we didn't make all this in one day. The Hats Off team members have been busy all summer knitting and crocheting these gorgeous treasures which will be donated to Credit Valley Hospital in the coming weeks. As an added bonus, a staff member from Volunteer Halton was on hand yesterday to take a few pictures of the group in action. We'll be featured on their website in early October, which we hope will help to generate some yarn donations - or maybe even some hat and infant loss item donations. Fingers crossed! Before we parted for the day we raised our glasses in a toast to Liz, who passed away one year ago today. I lost a friend, but it occurred to me yesterday, as I sat in my family room listening to the laughter of lovely, funny, dedicated women now united in a common crafty cause, that Liz has managed to bring new friends (and old) into my life since she had to leave it on that pretty September day last year. And I am, once again, so grateful to her for the gift of friendship. Thanks again to Kathy, Lynda, Gaile, Denise, Stacy, Melinda, and Elizabeth for spending the afternoon playing yarns with me; and to Jennifer, Catherine, Bridget and Leah for donating from afar. And, of course, thank you all so much for the beautiful handmade items you made with so much love! |
AuthorKristin Archives
May 2019
Categories |