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Do you have residents at your nursing home who love to knit, sew, or do other craft projects? Today I’m sharing 3 ways they can enjoy their hobbies while helping other people at the same time.
Project Linus
Project Linus distributes blankets to children who are seriously ill, traumatized, or in other situations where they would benefit from a warm blanket. Local drop-off centers collect handmade blankets. From there, they go to children in shelters, hospitals, or through contact with social service agencies.
The organization accepts a wide variety of blankets such as knitted or crocheted afghans, quilts, or tied fleece blankets. This basic no-sew fleece blanket pattern is especially popular with nursing home residents.
Before you begin your project, I encourage you to contact your local Project Linus chapter. They’ll advise you as to specific needs in your community and the location of drop-off sites.
Enchanted Makeovers
Enchanted Makeovers provides a wide variety of services to support women and children staying in homeless shelters. Many of these people are there because of challenges such as domestic violence, sex trafficking, or addictions.
Your residents can support these women and children by creating dolls, pillowcases, blankets, and superhero capes. Many patterns are available on the Enchanted Makeovers website. Some require sewing, but others such as dolls and kids’ capes are no-sew.
You’ll ship your completed projects to Enchanted Makeover’s home office in Taylor, Michigan. The organization then distributes them to shelters in several states.
Perhaps you’re concerned that the shipping costs would be prohibitive for your nursing home. If so, I encourage you to contact local shelters in your area. I’m sure they would appreciate receiving the same homemade items.
Snuggles Project
Through this program, your residents can make security blankets and toys that comfort frightened shelter pets. They’ll also have an opportunity to create items that help make shelters appear more homelike and inviting.
The Snuggles website offers a pattern library, so you know that what you’re creating is truly helpful to shelter animals. They offer patterns for knitting, crocheting, sewing, as well as no-sew projects.
When your residents complete their projects, you simply deliver the items to your local animal shelter. To find out which shelters take part in the Snuggles Project, simply go to this site and look for the kitty icon next to the organization. I’m told that it’s a good idea to call ahead to find out which items are most needed at each shelter.
While the Snuggles Project encourages people to pay for a membership to help cover operating costs, this is not mandatory. They realize that nursing homes and other nonprofit groups often can’t afford to pay these fees.
How do we get the supplies?
Supplies for craft projects such as these can get to be expensive. Tune in on Friday when I’ll share lots of ideas to keep the costs down!
You’ll find even more ideas in this book available on Amazon:
Knit Along With Debbie Macomber: A Charity Guide For Knitters
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