Well where do I start...lol
I first started donating handmade items to charity a long time ago. Whether it was a quilt or a hat it didn't matter, I still felt I was doing something worthwhile, which I was.. I mainly donated items locally and whenever the needs arose..
My local craft group would hold an evening where we would create items to those in need, sometimes we made little toiletry bags and filled them with toothhbrushes and personal items for kids in orphanges overseas, we would knit or crochet squares and make them into blankets for the elderly in hospices and hospitals, we made quilts for cancer patients, knitted garments for World Vision and so on... but I felt I could do more than the small amount we were doing so I started knitting little hats for premature babies and donating them.... then I misplaced my details for the person I was sending my items to and do you think I could find those details again. Grrrrrrrrr.....
I enquired thru my online patchwork group if anyone had the details I was seeking but no one did. From this I was asked if I could knit premature hats and bootees for a hospital NICU in Newscastle which I gladly agreed to. I sent off the first batch of 35 hats and 1 little pair of bootees and the response back to me was very pleasing... It made me feel I had made a difference in someone's life....
So from there I started thinking what a difference could be made to others in need.. I started searching for other groups who were in need of items..... sadly I found that contact details and addresses for sending items were not readily available... but I did not give up and have spent considerable hours on the internet searching, contacting and waiting for replies...... to my disappointment very few organisations answered my enquiries........... maybe something to think about if you are involved in these organisations........ how much you could be missing out on by simply not following thru with an email no matter how small the pledge...... every little bit helps.......
I read everything I could find on helping others and the different things that were needed... I found there is a great need out there for warm clothing, hats, scarves etc. quilts, blankets and bedding items and also for things we take for granted everyday like personal hygiene items, toiletry items and the list just goes on and on..... the internet certainly makes the world a smaller place but it also opens ones eyes to the poverty that is everywhere.......
The more I read and researched the more my heart strings were pulled...... could you possibly imagine each night as we crawl into our warm beds those poor beings who have no beds, no homes and no blankets or warm clothing to keep them warm and also no food in their bellies......and then try and imagine life for those even less fortunate in countries like afghanistan where their winters are nothing like we could imagine......the harshness of their lives just seems so unfair and it moved me so much to start this blog and see if I can in some small way make a difference to the lives of these people and others around our world.
Could you possibly try and imagine a small child begging on the streets of Afghanistan for money for food, try and imagine the chill that they feel from lack of warm clothes and no food in their bellies........ then imagine the babies and very young who are left in the tents in these harsh winters while their mothers go in search of food...... I pinched this passage from a letter on this website www.winterwarm.org this lady is trying to make a difference to these people...
Children are stood in traffic, hands pulled into their sleeves as an alternative fashion to gloves, their sleeves white with snow. They run, many of them, after cars. Their faces appear at half misty windows, shuddering and begging, “Khyrat Bedeh”, their breath frozen on their lips. Their eyes tell the tale; they have not had breakfast; their skinny faces show clearly that they have had no food for an unknown period. Their torn jackets complain; they cannot protect them from the snow and cruel cold. Snow falls constantly and covers their hair, then slowly dissolves, changes to drops and slides down, freezing again before they hit the ground.
Some people think of snow as an elixir that helps them triumph over the fear of drought, but snow, for all its beauty, makes some people cry. Cry for a father whose children cry for food and a little warmth. Cry for a mother who begs out in the cold to bring food to her children, while her children cry at home for their mother to be with them. Cry for a mother who squeezes her tiny baby under her jacket to keep him warm, but can’t do anything to feed him. She, herself, has not eaten enough, how can she feed her baby?
I can’t cry any more. Help me cry for a family who live not in a protective shelter, but a tent with many holes in it, camped on a wet piece of ground, crying for enough food and dreaming of a little warmth.
Yes, these parents dream too. They are ordinary people and dream as we do. However, we have much more and dream of a better tomorrow. They dream for today. They dream of bread for their children. They dream of a time when their children are not hungry, and are warm. They dream of a time when they can look at each other knowing their children are satisfied.
This is just one example of the sadness in our world today.. there are plenty more around if we just take the time to look and care..
My aim of this blog is to open the eyes of people in blogland and hopefully get some others to help these and the many others out there in need. It only takes one small effort by one person to combine with others small efforts to make a huge difference in their lives... are you willing to make a small effort to achieve a huge difference to someone less fortunate...
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