A few days ago, I introduced my plans for my grateful giving in 2015 (read more about it HERE). For February, my organization of choice is Give a Little Hope.
Give a Little Hope is a non-profit organization that helps cancer affected families. They focus on the family, not the cancer. Using music, the message of hope, and a passion of action, they are able to add financial help to their outreach. Each year, Give a Little Hope also passes out Hope Totes to families of those touched by cancer. Their Hope Tote project allows you to purchase an empty tote for yourself, and they give a full tote to one of these families. The donated tote gets filled with practical and necessary items such as lip balm, lotion, slippers/socks, Bible, coloring books for children, and so much more. Each Christmas, they give totes to those cancer patients in the hospital for the holiday to help bring them a little cheer. In 2013, they were able to give 100 Hope Totes! Their goal this year is at least 200.
“We exist to help cancer affected families find hope. We hope to one day be able to be a replicable framework for any city to emulate to help their local families.”
– Give a Little Hope Mission & Vision Statement –
If you’re local to Brevard County (Florida), particularly the Melbourne/Palm Bay area, you can help Give a Little Hope with their local efforts. They’ve been to Friday Fest in Downtown Melbourne quite a few times, and are looking to branch out throughout the county to other festivals and events. At their booth, you’ll find shirts and other “swag” that supports their mission. The proceeds all go back into the project to be able to give to cancer affected families.
Grateful Giving for Give a Little Hope
I will be making hats and coffee sleeves for Give a Little Hope to add to their Hope Totes. There are specific guidelines to follow for what you can use to make hats because cancer patients typically have sensitivity to some materials. Below are the guidelines I use and are mostly standard guidelines for cancer caps. All sizes from newborn to adult are welcome, but the biggest need for Give a Little Hope at the moment are teen-adult sizes. If you’d like to join me, you can either send your items to me (email me for more info) or you can choose your own organization that helps cancer patients and their families to donate to.
Guidelines:
- must be brand new, never worn
- must be clean: free of pet hair, perfumes, and smoke
- must be made with soft yarn: cotton, acrylic. DO NOT use wool or alpaca because it can cause scalp irritation
- wash your hands frequently while making hats
Favorite (FREE) Coffee Sleeve Patterns
- 15 Min Coffee Sleeve by Jonna Ventura (Ravelry)
- Quick Crocheted Coffee Sleeve by A Crafty House (Ravelry)
How else can you help?
In addition to helping with hats and coffee sleeves, Give a Little Hope also needs donations of practical and necessary items: lotion, lip balm, soft socks/slippers, toiletries, etc.
You can also donate directly to Give a Little Hope securely through PayPal. Head HERE for how you can do that.
You can also donate to me (securely through PayPal) for purchasing yarn and/or shipping costs. If you’d like to do that, you can do so by clicking HERE. If you’d like to donate skeins yarn, you can email me to get more information on how to do that.