It’s been a long time since we’ve seen each other. I miss you and all the fun we have working together to help abused women who have sought the protection of a shelter.
If you didn’t know, Handmade has been carrying on almost as usual. Here’s what we’ve been doing to continue making comfort scarves for abused women.
You know we cannot make Magic Balls without precut fun fur and other novelty yarn. Paula and Meredith are still cutting the yarn. The fun fur bins are full. Sharon is recovered enough from her broken wrist that she can wind skeins of yarn into balls that can be measured. Bonnie, Karen, and Paula have been picking up bags of yarn from my front porch or side step and measuring the yarn in the comfort of their own homes. Then they return the measured yarn to me and I put the combinations together so they can make Magic Balls. I meet you on Wednesdays to share Magic Balls and other kits. Ann brings kits to the craft group. Ronnie and Theresa are hosting bins of kits so you have access to them all week long.
Then, in the comfort of your own homes, you knit the scarves. That is crucial to the success of our ongoing project.
We receive your finished scarves every Wednesday in our parking lot meetings. I also get them from Ronnie and Theresa. Plenty come in the mail and by UPS. Chris still opens all the boxes. Chris, Sari, Nancie, and Kayoko pick up boxes of finished scarves, wrap them, and prepare them for shipping.
That catches you up to what’s going on behind the scenes. We hope you will continue knitting comfort scarves. Usually at this time we ship almost 2,000 scarves to our 70+ shelters in time for their Mother’s Day parties. Mother’s Day is a difficult time at the shelters. Some women miss their families so much they opt to return to their abusive environment. The shelters try to lessen this tug to return “home” by putting on parties and other positive events. Our scarves play an important role. They lift the self-esteem of the women and once the women decide to stay at the shelter, increase their hope for a future without abuse.
Before the ‘shelter in place’ recommendation for preventing the spread of COVID-19, we planned to ship scarves on April 23. I think we should push this back a week to April 30. Mother’s Day is May 10 so we can take the additional week. I have written to all the shelters, asking which are still open (some have had to close due to lack of staff), if they are even going to have parties, how many scarves do they need, etc. Once we receive their answers, we will know how many scarves we actually need.
Please, please continue making comfort scarves. What you are doing behind the scenes is so important for the ongoing success of our project. Keep up the good work.
Finally, stay healthy. Observe the 6-feet of separation rule, wash your hands frequently, don’t touch your face, wear a mask if you go out. So far, no one in our group has come down with this virus and I hope that good news continues!
Love,
Leslye
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