2017 Charity Collection

This year The Homespun Yarn Party and Knitters and Crocheters Care are collecting knit and crocheted Comfort Monsters, water bottle holders and shawls for TAPS - Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, and hats, scarves and mittens for children and young adults at Alternative House, and chemo caps to donate to Anne Arundel Medical Center in Beth Haneke’s name.

TAPS provides a wide variety of programs and information to all those affected by a death of a loved one in the line of military duty. Each Memorial Day weekend, TAPS invites their members to attend their four-day Memorial Day event in Arlington, Virginia. Members are offered workshops and other forms of support where they learn to share, cope and heal from some of America’s leading experts on trauma and grief. Since 2003, Knitters and Crocheters Care (KCC) has attended this event; we teach knitting and crocheting and provide comfort items to attendees that stop by the KCC table. Last year Bonnie Carroll, founder of TAPS was one of the extraordinary people who were awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom - the nation’s highest civilian honor. You can read more about this amazing woman here: www.taps.org/BonnieCarroll

What is a Comfort Monster? A Comfort Monster can be as simple as a stuffed square with funky eyes, or as challenging as an elaborately decorated stuffed animal. Just make sure it’s soft and huggable. What is a water bottle holder or water bottle sling? There are a bunch of knit and crochet patterns on Ravelry -- any one of those patterns will work for this program.

Alternative House, located in Fairfax, Virginia - supports at-risk children, youth and families, provides crisis intervention and neighborhood outreach. We are collecting hats, scarves and mittens for children and young adults at Alternative House. Alternative House continues to see an increase in requests for assistance, they rise to the challenge because of generous donations from the metro DC community. Last year they opened a new program to help young people who are homeless while still in high school and who don’t have the support of a parent or guardian. Your generous donation of cold weather items may make the difference between a young person going to school or staying home during the next harsh winter

Chemo Caps to be donated to Anne Arundel Medical Center in Beth Haneke’s name. Beth was one of the Homespun Yarn Party’s volunteers for several years. Beth Haneke and her beautiful golden retriever service dogs were a regular sight at past events. Beth was a cancer survivor who dealt with serious health issues over the years. Unfortunately, she lost her fight just a few weeks ago on February 25, 2017. We checked with her family and they would love for us to donate chemo caps in Beth’s name.

Additionally, if you’re looking to destash - Knitters and Crocheters Care is collecting yarn for charity projects and charitable organizations throughout the DC metro area.

You can also grab your knitting needles and/or your crochet hooks, and come and knit/crochet with us. You are welcome to bring your own yarn, however, we will provide charity yarn for you to work with. We will have a couple of knit and crochet charity scarves going at the charity table. Please come by and add a few rows!

Hope you can participate!!