The Yarnheads Project Mission:
CREATE FOR A CAUSE.
Our mission is simple - to unite the crochet and knitting community to bring as many donated items to those in need as possible, and to provide a verified database of legitimate organizations to donate these items to. Our focus will be on providing hats, scarves, and blankets, and other requested donations for: -Homeless shelters and soup kitchens -Organizations that support the homeless, and we will have volunteers that will hand out items to homeless in the streets called The Yarnheads Street Crew -Women and children's shelters -Homes and shelters for orphaned children, as well as families in need -NICU (neonatal Intesive Care Unit) and maternity wards that serve low income populations -Grieving families that came to the hospital unprepared and lost their child unexpectedly (bereavement programs) -Pet and Animal Shelters (beds, toys, and sweaters for the winter cold months) |
How did The Yarnheads Project Begin?
From the founder, Claire:
Well, it just sort of - began! The picture to the right was my initial inspiration for this whole project, and an amazing lady in the Crochet Geek Facebook group that donated dolls to an orphanage in Bali. I though, "if 10,000 people will come to my blog in a day for a free pattern, maybe a few would like to put hats on the homeless and babies". What a great way to bust your yarn stash - and there are so many people (and shelter animals) of all ages that need to stay warm! AND WINTER IS COMING (Game of Thrones Book/TV reference for those that may not be familiar). So I asked a few amazing friends what they thought, and we are off to the races! I actually am a chronic illness fighter, and have a condition called dysautonomia that keeps me fairly home and sometimes bed bound. I am in a wheelchair most of the time, and when I lost the ability to work and run my floral design business after a nine month hospital stay, I needed to learn something new that I could do while not feeling well. That happened to be crochet (and making jewelry, and woodworking with fairy garden miniatures, and a bunch of other random crafts). I also founded and am president of a nonprofit for my condition, Dysautonomia SOS, so I know the process of "rallying the troops" for a cause. We have a lot of homeless veterans here in Virginia Beach, some of which I am proud to say did odd jobs for me at my old flower shop. I have had it on my heart for some time to do SOMETHING to help these folks. I also was in the maternity ward of our local high risk pregnancy hospital for 7+ months, and saw a NICU for the first time. I heard grieving mothers cry from my room, stampedes of feet down the hospital corridors at night, and stories from the nurses of death the next morning. So I want to DO SOMETHING. Will you join me? What a low cost, easy way to make a difference! When I searched "crochet charities" not much came up, and I see occasional drives pop up on Facebook - but my idea and the goal of this project is to link (and encourage!) all these grassroots efforts, and host our own as well. I also want to verify and provide resources for people who have an extra hat they want to mail somewhere, or a baby blanket, and make sure it actually gets into the right hands. So join me! Become a Yarnhead, even if you can't crochet or knit! You can either learn from our linked tutorials, donate yarn, or donate your time. All are equally important, and will mean the world to those who are donated to! |
About Claire:
Learn more about Claire on her craft blog. She is also a featured designer at All Free Crochet, and you can find her shops on Etsy:
-Horizontal Designs (Crochet and Jewelry) -The Purple Fairy Shoppe (garden miniatures) She has also written for the nonprofit she helped found and is currently president of, Dysautonomia SOS, as well as a local online publication, AltDaily.com. |
Disclaimer
This is a volunteer run project, but it is not an official charity (yet). We are contacting all the organizations listed on this site to verify they are legit and tax exempt, but are in no way responsible if someone is misusing items or misrepresenting themselves of their organization in any way shape or form. We are here to provide you with tools and encourage helping those in need. We do not make any money from the sponsorships, donations, or anything associated with The Yarnheads Project. We only collect yarn, and any money collected from things like tee shirt sales goes to purchase yarn to give to our volunteer Yarnhead Designers. Costs of shipping yarn to designers are covered by the designers, or sponsors.
Any emails we collect will only be used to communicate with you about your donation, they will never be disclosed or sold to a third party, and all standard legal privacy, copyright, and legal statements from this link apply, while substituting the name "The Yarnheads Project" where "Dysautonomia SOS" is used.
Any emails we collect will only be used to communicate with you about your donation, they will never be disclosed or sold to a third party, and all standard legal privacy, copyright, and legal statements from this link apply, while substituting the name "The Yarnheads Project" where "Dysautonomia SOS" is used.