Charity Crafting Pitfalls

There's a saying: Be careful what you wish for; you might get it. Charity crafting is like that for me. When I first began, two years ago in April, I put a notice in our senior MHP newsletter that I was starting a group in our Clubhouse on Friday mornings. The first week, three of us showed up. We are now five. That doesn't sound like much but we have managed to make, and donate, an incredible number of crocheted, knitted, and hand sewn items.

The making of the things isn't the hard part. I wanted our group to be low-key and stress-free. After a while, that can become difficult. People are beginning to "find" us. We don't want publicity. We all enjoy the peace and quiet of two hours of time when we do nothing but chat about our patterns and our projects, and when we leave, we feel we have made a small effort to help the needy.

People are also beginning to donate supplies now and then. One Friday, a well-meaning neighbor had his friend help him haul over the contents of his shed. His wife no longer can do crafts. We had yarn and thread and patterns and embroidery supplies and painting and all kinds of supplies, all over the six long tables in the Clubhouse. Three of the ladies took as much as they wanted or felt they could distribute. They helped me dump the rest in my trunk and on my back seat. The rest, the park maintenance man brought to my driveway later that day. It took me three months to finally find homes for the supplies that none of us could deal with.

Distribution is another dilemma. The first few months, we just made and made and made. And I just brought home and brought home and brought home. After I had filled two huge totes and stuff was piled on top of them and around them on the floor, I had to spend time finding places willing to take them. Not all charities or destinations are what we all agreed on. It took a while.

The thing I am trying to say is that charity crafting takes on a life of its own. When you begin, you need to be sure of what you are willing to do, and what you are not willing to do, as a group, and also as yourself, a caring but careful person.

As a group, we have now agreed that we will only accept supplies that directly deal with our own skills - yarn, thread, crochet and knitting. As a person, I need to explain to the group that I have suddenly realized I am getting tired and weary with all the distribution. I can handle what we are doing now, but if we grow and have more output, I would need to step down and let someone else take over.

So the main thing is to enjoy yourself while you are doing for others. The love will show in your work and in how you make your distribution decisions.