Hello again! The project is abouut to be in full stride again. We shipped the 54 packages to Oklahoman soldiers as a holiday care packages. The 1st-4th graders at my school were excited to make cards for the packages again. In each one, i put in a summary of the project and my email. I have not recieved a response yet from any of the soldiers, but i hope to in the future. This cold and windy weather in Oklahoma is perfect for the crh scarf, so I put them in the stores last week. We have now expanded to two different boutiques in the area. So far have sold ten in the past week, so it seeems to be going pretty well. Next week The Oklahoman newspaper will be running an another article on the project, which will hopefully have the readers thinking to buy them for holiday gifts. Currently we are using the last bit of yarn left over from the two grants, and some from a loan from my parents. Now i am in the process of looking for another grant or alternative way for funding the yarn cost. If it is not avaliable, the scarf cost must go back up to $70 to pay for the $20 yarn. Please comment/contact me with any suggestions
crh- Knitting for Troops
the problem:
The US soldiers are each away from their homes and families as well as not having access to all the resources we do. They are short in hygiene supplies and their food source is limited and continuously bland.
vital stats:
people impacted:
158people involved:
22why it's important:
We currently knit scarves and sell them at a local boutique. All the proceeds go towards filling boxes with hygiene and food items the soldiers have been requesting, and then they are shipping overseas to very grateful men and women. In fact, each scarf sends a package to a soldier.
the plan of action:
1. First I came up with the project idea
2. Then I talked to the manager of the local boutique about selling our scarves there.
3. Yarn soon was soon ordered to begin making the prototype. The prototype includes a label and a tag stating the purpose of each scarf.
4. Then I met with our service learning teacher to have my project approved
5. Then I ordered the yarn in a variety of colors
6. After I spoke about the project in chapel, I gained 25 volunteers (with and without knitting experience)
7. Knitting circles have been held at my house to help teach the beginners and give the others a refresh course
8. I sent the yarn home with the knitters over Christmas break
9. After I started to receive scarves back from volunteers i put them into the store.
10. My next step is to order more yarn so we can maintain the pace of the project, but first we need to find a financial resource because the high price of $20 per spool of yarn makes our pricing difficult. I have exhausted my own resources, so we are currently looking at other options.
how you can get involved:
Others can help by donating yarn, or donating money to help pay for the yarn. The yarn we use is "Twinkle: soft and chunky knit"
project updates:
This was a wonderful year for the knitting for troops project! The grant paid for all of our yarn, which allowed us to lower the price of the scarves from $70 to $50. After changing locations and lowering the price, we were able to triple the amount of scarves we sold last year! Last year i was grateful to be able to send eighteen packages. This years blssing of 54 packages is unreal. All of the knitters and some extra volunteers are all excited to put the boxes together this summer.
This year we were also fortunate enought to get new knitting volunteers from all different age groups. These included middle schoolers, parents, and grandparents. The different age groups made our knitting circles more diverse in conversation and the movies that we watched. It was really a lot of fun.
The scarves became more well known around the community through a few different ways. We were lucky enough to have an article and picture in the Friday paper as well as The Oklahoman. Also, the store that we moved the scarves into is a very popular local boutique called No Regrets. Their customers were great, and they would order them in numbers for us to ship to family in different places in the US. One of my favorite stories was when 4 men veterans came into the store after hearing about the scarves. They loved the idea and they each bought one in memory of their service and in support of today's troops.
The heat of summer has caused us to take the scarves out of the store. We plan on continuing this project next fall. We have even been offered another store to put them in. If we can keep two stores in stalk, that would be a huge advantage for the sales. Because of this, we are continuing to knit this summer until we run out of yarn. Then, we will just have to wait and see where is goes.
Thank you for all of your help and support this year! We would have not been able too accomplish so much without the two grants. With your help, 54 soldiers will recieve a package filled with essentials and some fun things also!
Since I have made this profile, the project was given two grants from Dosomething.org. We received a $500 Disaster Grant and an additional $1000 Project Development Grant. These grants helped the project tremendously.
The first year of the project, before the grants, we sold the scarves for $70 each ($20 for the yarn and $50 for the package and shipping) After winter had ended we sold a total of 18 scarves. This allowed us to send 18 Christmas/Holiday packages to the Troops.
The grant money paid for our yarn and advertisement. While this may seem small, It definitely was not. Without having to pay for the yarn, the scarves cost $50. This price is a lot more attractive to buyers. We also moved to a different store, called No Regrets. It is located right by our school and inside the community.
So far we have more than doubled our sales than last year. We have sold over 40 scarves, and are still continuing to sell them. These sales would not have been possible without the grants from Dosomething.org.
I am still continuing to have knitting circles at my house. We have fun knitting and watching movies together. Two women outside of the Oklahoma City area have joined our group as well. One is retired and one is a mother. Volunteers and I have been teaching people how to knit at school, during the circles, or even or long bus trips for school sports. It is nice to be able to do something we like while supplying soldiers with what they need.
Thanks for all your help!
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Comments
This project looks awesome! Did you know that you can apply every week for a Disaster Grant? These grants are also to recognize community heroes, so projects that support soldiers fit in perfectly!
Check out http://www.dosomething.org/grants/disaster for more information.
i was wondering if mine fit the description of a disaster grant. what is your opinion?
Hey chandlerh,
It's so great to see how your project is supporting our troops. You should apply for a grant for your work: http://www.dosomething.org/grants/remembrance-grants apply by September 1st for a chance at $1,000 or $500 grant! Questions? Email Grants@DoSomething.org
And be sure to share your thanks and a note of support as part of the largest digital thank-you card for Emergency Service Workers: Decade of Thanks here http://www.dosomething.org/thanks You have until 9/18 to upload your message!
Thanks!
Do Something Intern