How to Fight Cancer and Protect Preemies with Knitted Hats

Join Knitting Rays of Hope, and you can enter into battle against cancer as well as protect preemies through knitted hats

Knitting Rays of Hope is a knitting charity that began in California in 2012. The idea sprung from a woman named Pali when accompanying her sister-in-law to a chemotherapy treatment. There she realized that the hospital did not have many chemo caps. She had just learned to knit scarves and believed hats would not be much more difficult. With a team of friends, Pali got to work knitting chemo caps for the hospital. During their breaks at work and their lunch hour, they knitted together.

When they delivered their first set of hats to the hospital – a total of 70! – they learned that the hospital could also use hats for premature babies in the NICU. So their group expanded from hats for chemotherapy patients to include hats for preemies.

Their group’s scope has continued to grow until they found themselves knitting not only for their local hospital, but all around the world as they conncted with knitters internationally.

How You Can Help

Knitting Rays of Hope needs three things: hats (of course!), materials like needles and yarn, and word-of-mouth. If you’re looking for a place to donate your chemo caps and preemie hats, this is a great choice!

Knitting Rays of Hope delivers to many different hospitals in California. If you happen to have extra materials and supplies, you can donate those as well. (This could be a great way to destash!)

Finally, spread the world! Knitting Rays of Hope have many online presences: a blog, Facebook, and Pinterest. You can also read the story of how they got started here.

One of the things I love about their blog is that it’s not just for posting photos of donations (although there are plenty of those!). The Knitting Rays of Hope blog also posts various inspirational stories, as well as call-to-action articles. I also love that they encourage creativity. If you enjoy knitting character hats, or any hat with personality, Knitting Rays of Hope will be thrilled to take your creations.

Knitting Rays of Hope is a wonderful grassroots knitting charity that deserves our support. I hope you’ll consider how you can help, and spread the word!