More Crafting for Charity (& a bit of history)
The Red Cross Museum (didn’t know there was such a thing, did you?) in Washington, DC has some interesting aspects – one of which is the history of knitting involvement. It says,
“During World War I and World War II the American Red Cross launched nationwide, volunteer driven, knitting campaigns to supply soldiers and civilians with warm clothing. The participants belonged to a unit then called the Production Corps, that also produced bandages, and sewn garments like pajamas for veteran’s hospitals and civilians. “
The site includes various designs that were created specifically for soldiers and sailors. It also includes some period-era posters and pictures around knitting.
There’s MORE information about the Red Cross’s knitting history on the website for afghans for Afghans.
That’s today’s modern-day charity – Afghans for Afghans. It’s a group that collects and distributes blankets, mittens, socks, hats, sweaters, vests, etc. to people in Afghanistan – residents and refugees. There are patterns and guidelines on the website for knitted and crochet items as well as guidelines (like – no synthetics, they don’t wear well). They also raise money for their effort, and sell things to benefit their efforts.
3 Comments
feel free to leave a few words of your own...Melissa — Tue Aug 21, 2007 at 9:33 pm (link)I love these charity crafting ideas! Thanks for passing them on … even though I’ve had little time to knit lately, I aspire to do one of these things.
Arty Ropa — Thu Sep 6, 2007 at 6:05 pm (link)Global Ministries does not need any more knitted, 48″ bandages, and I have some. Do you know where I can donate them?
Miriam — Fri Sep 7, 2007 at 8:52 am (link)Hi Arty,
I did some research, and you might try the Bev’s Journeying’s Blog for some information about where to send bandages now that Global Ministries doesn’t accept them. Another possibility is the Bandage Blog.FYI to everyone who doesn’t know what Arty’s talking about, these bandages are for Hansen’s Disease, aka leprosy, patients.
