Happy New Year. All our best wishes to you and yours for a happy and healthy 2019.
Handmade started 2019 in a big way. Last Thursday, we shipped 1,830 comfort scarves to 56 shelters for abused women throughout CA. You can see the riot of beautiful comfort scarves cascading out of the box in the photo below. What we do on shipping days is one group wraps scarves in the dining room and another group packs the wrapped scarves into boxes. We want to make sure that all the scarves in each box are different from each other, so once they are wrapped, we spill them out onto the floor of our family room, so we can pick individual scarves. My spirits always rise when I see all the different scarves, different colors, different stitches, different patterns, made by so many wonderful and dedicated volunteers from all over the US. Thank you all so much.
You can sense all the excitement of shipping. Notice all the boxes in the background, just waiting for attention.
We have already received notes from shelters in appreciation of what we sent. Here’s an especially nice one from Fatima Donato, Volunteer Services Coordinator at Tri-Valley Haven in Livermore, CA. We sent that shelter 20 scarves:
Thank you for your organization’s thoughtful donation of 20 comfort scarves for our shelter clients! These scarves will surely make the women and children utilizing our services feel cared for and supported. I will get the scarves to the shelter, and will make certain to pass along our client’s thanks when I hear from shelter staff.
Thank you to the wonderful leadership and volunteers at Handmade Especially for You, for utilizing your time and talent to respond to the greater community’s needs in such a warm and compassionate manner. Many thanks,
Fatima Donato, Volunteer Services Coordinator
Tri-Valley Haven
Livermore, CA 94550
Angelina Coe, Executive Director of Shelter from the Storm in Palm Desert CA thanked us in a similar manner for the 20 scarves we sent there. We shipped the scarves only a few days ago and already we are receiving enthusiastic appreciations. We must be doing something really right.
All the scarves we sent, all the scarves you see in the above photo, were made by volunteers just like you, maybe even made by you. Do you recognize a scarf you made in the photo? Some volunteers contribute lots and lots of scarves on a regular basis. Some send just a few, whenever they can. No matter which kind of volunteer you are, Handmade appreciates what you do. We reach our goal ONE SCARF AT A TIME.
Just to put this all in perspective, I must tell you that last week’s shipping brings the total number of scarves we’ve shipped since the end of 2008 (when we started) to 117,585! You didn’t misread the number. I didn’t put the comma in the wrong place. Yes, we’ve shipped 117,585 comfort scarves. That means we all contributed a lot, whatever our contributions are.
We’re not done yet. Here’s our New Year’s Resolution: keep making and sending comfort scarves to all the shelters for abused women in CA. I also hope the number of scarves needed will decline, due to a decline in the number of abused women. Realistically, that might not happen, but at best we can try to help all those who seek the protection of a shelter.
Thanks for participating in Handmade Especially for You. Our needles are very powerful. Keep them clicking!
Love,
Leslye