Charity Projects Update: January 2013 Meetup

On a "warm" January Saturday, seven Twin City crocheters met at the Bruegger's Bagels in the SunRay Shopping Plaza for three hours to work on charity projects. The private back room provides a nice space for working, socializing and snacking.

Carla, Gail, Jodi, Julie, June, Lisa and Maxine worked on various community service projects covering each one of our focus charities.  As a reminder, we are assisting these charities during our 2012-2013 year:

• Local need:  Harriet Tubman Center.  This is a domestic abuse shelter for women and children.  They need all sizes and styles of hats, mittens and scarves from October through April.  Patterns are available on the CGOA website under "Charities".
• National need:  Warm Up America!.  This group collects 7" x 9" squares to join into afghans.  It is best to use synthetic yarn for this project.  More details are available on the CGOA website under "Charities".
• Worldwide need:  The Mother Bear Project.  This group provides hand-knit or hand-crocheted bears to children with HIV/AIDS in emerging nations.  Carla has the pattern if you are interested in working on this project.  June was working on a bear on Saturday, and Lisa made one in the past if you have questions about the pattern.

At the end of our session, this January group had collected a grand total of 44 Warm Up America! rectangles, 10 hats, 4 scarves and one child's set of hat, mittens and scarf. Several members have been creating and collecting items since our last meeting in October.  Gail was our star provider, bringing in a full bag of donations. Maybe one of these years our chapter can compete in the national CGOA chapter challenge competition.

You don't have to attend a meetup to contribute.  If you would like to work on any of these projects in your free time, contact Carla or check the CGOA website for further information.  Donations are gladly accepted at any meeting.

Members can also suggest or start additional charity projects for the group to do. They can be ongoing or one-time projects.  Contact Maxine or Carla to discuss any ideas.