Project #9: Idaho - Northwest Children's Home

Ready, Set, GO!
On to Idaho! This month, BlueRaven has suggested that we send our items to Northwest Children’s Home, Inc. in Lewiston. The Home has been helping orphaned, abandoned and abused children since 1908.

The home has undergone many changes over the last 100 years, and has even endured through location changes, changes in child protection laws, and expansion efforts.

“Today, as Northwest Children’s Home looks forward to its second century, it has come a long way from its original mission as an orphanage and home finder for abandoned children. The change from custodial care to treatment programs that had its genesis in the 1930s has resulted in a constant evolution in how the children’s home operates.”

What we are making for THIS PROJECT:
hats
scarves
mittens/gloves
or if you wish, socks and/or slippers

As always, these can be knitted, crocheted, or sewn, and they must be handmade. If you do not knit, crochet, or sew, you can still be involved by purchasing a handmade item from one of the wonderful sellers on Etsy or Artfire. Or, ask a friend to make the item and you provide shipping - then you both get to participate!

DEADLINE:
Deadline to have these items received by the project coordinator is July 15, so please allow appropriate mail time.

As stated above, our volunteer coordinator for this project is BlueRaven for the collection and tally, and knitsforpits will be doing the delivery. The mailing address for this will be announced in the next few days, so stay tuned!

Please let me know if there are any questions, or if I have left out any vital information for this project. Thank you again for your participation!

This project has finished. If you would like to send an item, please email me for the mailing address.

Calling all Suggestions!

Okay, team! I need to flesh out Project #7, and need some suggestions. It will begin just after April 15, so I would like to get it set up within the next week. Prior scheduling has fallen through a bit.

I had a suggestion for North Carolina by a person who is no longer a participant in the project.

I had a suggestion for Wisconsin, but the person suggesting has not been an active participant, so I am still not settled on that state's suggestion.

PurpleMoose made a suggestion for California Lilybugs, but I don't know if we have any members near there.

So, up to now, I have structured the months so that we would have a volunteer coordinator collect, tally, and deliver for us. The perks were that we got an accurate count and some nice photos. This method required that we have suggestions for charities near the home of someone who was willing to be a volunteer.

Since I don't have any current volunteers, and am stalled on projects and states, I think we are going to change it up a bit. We can coordinate with the charity directly, and mail our items to the organization (attn: to whomever is our contact there), with tags that say Sharing Our Gifts, and ask that they hold them all in a group until the end of the month (we specify the date) and then they can tally for us and give us a final count. This will ensure delivery date and relieve the burdens of volunteer coordinating. If the organizations are willing, we might ask them for a final photo of the items as a group.

What do you think?
Do we want to do Lilybugs in CA for this next project, and just deal directly with a member of the organization?

That is the direction in which I am leaning...suggestions appreciated.

POST EDIT:
We have decided to move forward with the current structure in place. We are still going to have a volunteer editor each month to collect, tally, and deliver items to the charity organization. We may have project #7 covered in Colorado with a volunteer coordinator in place. We are working to locate a non-profit in Denver, Colorado that accepts and distributes helmet liners for troops. Stay tuned!

We have had a generous offer by PurpleMoose in Alaska to receive, tally, and ship all items from Alaska to the project state if we lack a volunteer at any time. I hope we do not have to take her up on that offer, but I am grateful all the same.

Happily awaiting all suggestions from all states,
and volunteer(s) offering to coordinate those state(s).

Project #1 Progress

I hope you all are having a wonderful Labor Day weekend. Our challenge is gaining steam, and we have now 48 members on Ravelry, 3 group members on Blog Catalog, and 3 members in the Yahoo Group.

In addition, we will be featured tomorrow on NCTriangle.blogspot! It is a blog for the North Carolina Triangle Street Team on Etsy, and a member of that team, DinnerTime Chimes, has notified me that she will be featuring our project there to help give us some momentum.

DinnerTime Chimes is a fellow member of the TeamEcoEtsy street team, and has recently had work featured in the L.A. Times ,L.A. at Home section.

Go ahead and have a look through these links...you never now what treasures you may find!

Help an Etsian today!

Oh, you don't know what an Etsian is? Well, it is an individual who sells their handmade (or vintage or supplies) products on the web marketplace called Etsy. I know a wonderful Etsy seller and blogger who could really use some revenue from sales right now. I became acquainted with her work and her blog when we were both vying for the same trophy on an Etsy "Kill this Thread" thread in the forums. I have been hooked since!

She has two Etsy shops: Clay It Again where she sells wonderful polymer clay creations, and 12 Midnight Oils where she showcases her beautifully rendered oil paintings. She also sells on another handmade goods website called Artfire. Here are a couple of items you will find in her shops:Visit her blog today to read features and interviews of other artists and Etsians, and to find inspiration. Find out about her husband's journey after being diagnosed with IPF (Interstitial Pulmonary Fibrosis) and her search for employment. You will also see her husband's amazing woodcarving ability, and you can purchase her works directly from her blog.

At a time when we all are feeling the pinch of a shrinking economy, she and her husband are feeling the added stress of a devastating illness that means he has become unemployed, and her difficult task of balancing his care with her new job search. If you are looking to spend money online for a gift or for yourself, stop by and give her blog and shops a look-see.

A little help from many sources
will go a long way!