In reviewing the responses on the survey it appears that a few (definitely a minority) of us are drifting away from our original mission. Mission statement from website:
Our mission is to provide handmade items, such as knitted scarves, baby hats, baby blankets, tied fleece blankets, and sewed handcrafted items to people in need. We plan to supply various organizations such as Star of Hope Mission, Children's Protective Services, and John Knox Presbyterian Church (donating to Memorial Hermann Northwest Hospital and Texas Children's Hospital) with our beautifully handcrafted products. It is our hope that these items will comfort patients/residents and help them feel better while knowing that we care about their well being.
During our planning sessions, we also decided that we wanted to continue to read and discuss books, so we combined our work time with our book discussion time. Therefore, we are Lots of Knots, and Books Too!
I have talked to Betty at Star of Hope 3 times this week. She is "over the moon" that we have more than 50 handmade blankets to donate. She said that their need is greater than ever for children and families. To quote her, " Yes, absolutely we need the blankets. They are a sought after item--very special to the kids. After you were here last time, everyone was so excited about having something handmade and special. We have increased our numbers of children in need greatly. You would never be able to make as many blankets as we would be able to give to these children, but all that you do is truly appreciated and enjoyed.
The fact that they are handmade motivate the older children to "earn" them (ages 4-10). The demand for blankets for the babies in our nursery is never ending and growing daily. Many of our families are only able to stay here 6 months now because the need for shelter is so great. Most of these children will never have anything handmade and will treasure these for years to come."
Thank you so much for participating this year, and I hope that many of you will be able to arrange your schedules to take part in the delivery. I truly appreciate it and as you can see many others do too, especially the children.