How to Warm Needy Children All over the World: Knit for Kids
Your knitting can make a life-changing difference to children worldwide through Knit for Kids
Imagine you’re a child in a cold refugee camp.
You’ve escaped a vicious war in your home country, and you really just wish you could go back. But for now, you must wait with your family — or without, if the war left you an orphan.
Or: imagine you’re a child in a very poor family living in Chicago. Winters are bitterly cold, but your family can’t afford new winter clothes.
If you’re lucky, you might be able to squeeze into a tattered sweater from two winters ago. If not, you’re stuck wearing old T-shirts and shivering as you struggle to focus on math and reading in your classroom.
Does anyone know what you’re going through?
Does anyone care?
Knit for Kids knows the struggles that children in poverty face during the wintertime. Many children need love and attention as badly as — or worse than — they need warm clothes.
That’s why the Knit for Kids mission is to provide children in need with warm, cozy clothes and accessories made with love.
Live in the UK and looking for ways to knit for charity? Check out my posts on UK knitting charities here!
Tale as Old as Time: Knitters and Crocheters Responding to Children in Need
In 1995, Guideposts magazine began to encourage knitters and crocheters to create sweaters for needy children.
I’m sure you won’t be surprised to learn that knitters and crocheters responded in a big way! Soon children all over the world were receiving brand-new clothing created just for them, often for the first time in their lives.
Even better still, these sweaters kept multitudes of children warm. Because as children outgrew the sweaters, the next generation would receive them.
In 2009, Knit for Kids moved from the direction of Guideposts to World Vision.
World Vision is an international charity that has been around since 1950 and is rated 4 stars (out of 4) by Charity Navigator and has an A score from Charity Watch. Thanks to the long reach of World Vision, Knit for Kids grew stronger and mightier.
Although World Vision is a Christian organization, it dedicates its work to people of all religions. It serves over 100 countries all over the world, including the United States.
From the Knit for Kids website:
Sixty percent of the items World Vision receives are distributed as far away as Armenia, Nicaragua, Swaziland, and Tanzania. Forty percent go to destinations as close as Appalachia, New Orleans, and the Bronx. Sometimes these creations are shipped to an area that experienced a recent natural disaster.
From Sweaters to Many Winter Accessories
Originally, Knit for Kids collected only sweaters. However, as the program has grown, World Vision has found that the people it serves also need blankets, hats, scarves, and mittens.
Want to ensure you’re knitting what Knit for Kids needs most? Keep an eye on their patterns page. In addition to offering free knitting patterns, this page shows you what Knit for Kids is most in need of. Choose whatever type of project you’d like to make from the categories shown here!
While Knit for Kids encourages you to use their patterns, you can also use other patterns you love.
How You Can Help: Knitting and More
The Knit for Kids website, especially their FAQ page, will give you all the information you need to create warm winter accessories for needy children. This includes yarn guidelines and where to ship (or drop off) items after you’ve finished them.
You can take your care for needy children to an additional level with child sponsorship. This is how you can knit for one specific child and develop a relationship with him or her. You can learn more about the child sponsorship program and how it works here.
Through your knitting, you can warm a needy child and show them love and care. Most importantly, they’ll know you’ve remembered them. Why not get your needles clicking or your hooks hooking for Knit for Kids?
