Bag O' Sunshine

Posted 6 more over at the LJ site... :)

Bag O' Sunshine

Hi folks...

Ok, after mucho emailing and such, right now we have two locations to donate bags of goodies to our veterans -- one in Indiana and one in Ohio.

Here are some details:
1) Bags should be at least 6-8 inches wide/tall
2) Handles should be at least 12" long (up to 24" long)
3) Use acrylic yarn or washable fabric
4) Needs to be washable and hold up to abuse

I imagine that these bags will hang off of wheelchairs, doorhandles, etc, so need to be stitched tightly. The bag I made below is a combination of single and double crochet stitching for the bag itself, all the seams and the handle are a single crochet that's reinforced with a crochet thread.

Things that can be purchased to put IN the bag include:
1) Toiletries (small size shampoo, conditioner, deoderant, etc).
2) Hand sanitizer
3) Small puzzles and games (crossword, word find)
4) Pencils, pens, writing materials, envelopes, stamps
5) Anything else you want to donate!!

I would also recommend if you are donating a bag, please put a little letter or note in the bag for the vet. I get tons of "thank you" cards from charities I donate to that I can never use, and I'm going to use those to put in the bags. You can also make a card, have your child make a card, etc.

You can email me directly at marylewisphd (at) gmail (dot) com if you want to send things and I will give you my address, or if you want to donate to the Indiana VA, arian_diana is coordinating that.

We are counting the finished bag (unstuffed) as one FO.

Another Charity You Might Be Interested In

I just noticed a news story on Yahoo about a charity that I thought some of you might be interested in. It is the Adam Conboy Memorial Fund, and they are sending all kinds of care packages to Iraq. A week before Adam was killed, he asked his mother to send sets of bed linens to his unit. In honor of him, his parents set up this charity. They aren't looking for anything handmade in particular, but I thought of this group because of our current Bag O' Sunshine collection.

I am still busy crafting, but I am trying to get a certain number of items finished before I post pictures. I will definitely post before the end of May, though, so we can count them toward our current goal. Take care!

Bag o'Sunshine

I'd like to launch Bag O'Sunshine on Monday.

Let's try and work out the final details this weekend if possible, k? :)

Any ideas, suggestions, complaints, comments...welcome!

Bag O'Sunshine, Take 2

arian_diana has probably the easiest access to a VA, so right now I am looking at the VA in her town being kind of our adopted receiver. It's Indiana, it's the heartland. Who can argue with that? If doclegs finds out other places, we could always donate to more than one place. Similarly, per leftygirl, if you have a VA in your own hometown that you want to contribute to, just let us know.

funfairiegirl made the point that instead of having a point person to stuff the bags with whatever, all items should be sent to the person who will actually be going to the VA. If little games or whatever are purchased, those can be sent and hopefully the person won't mind sticking those items in little bags...or whatever.

doclegs has already volunteered to purchase little items that are needed. If there are any other volunteers for that kind of thing (emmiegray, I'm thinking of your previous kind offer here) then let us know.

arian_diana will also let us know what other items are needed, but I'm thinking this is a good start for now. Please continue to offer insight, whether for or against.

Thanks everyone!