Want Your Charity Knitting to Benefit Cancer Patients? Knit for Halos of Hope
Editor’s Note: Unfortunately as of January 1, 2018, Halos of Hope has ceased operations. I’m keeping this post up as a tribute to the legacy of Pam Haschke and her tremendous organization’s years of service.
Charity knitting for Halos of Hope offers cancer patients the comfort and support they need
The Knitting Nuggets Newsletter has mentioned knitting charity Halos of Hope many times. However, it wasn’t until recently that I realized we had never actually featured it here at Knitting for Charity.
I wanted to rectify this right away, because Halos of Hope is a magnificent nonprofit organization. It distributes hundreds of chemo caps to cancer centers every month.
Pamela Haschke (no relation, as far as I know!) started this charity after her own experience with Inflammatory Breast Cancer. Before she began chemotherapy, she assumed that hair loss would be the easiest “problem” she would deal with in fighting cancer. Then she actually lost her hair and discovered it wasn’t as easy as it seemed. Hair loss was not a quick and clean process.
As she states on the Halos of Hope website:
Your hair falls out in clumps and your scalp hurts, feeling like pinpricks where the hair follicles used to be. It’s not possible to perform a simple act like running your fingers though your hair without strands becoming entwined. As the chemotherapy eradicates the cancer cells within your body, you’re recovering internally while the pain on your scalp makes you want to cry.”
Chemo caps became not only a way to cover the hair loss, but also to provide genuine physical comfort. Creating chemo caps for people battling cancer is truly one of the greatest gifts you can offer.
How You Can Help
Halos of Hope gladly accept the hats you create all year round. You can find Cap Guidelines on this page of their website. You’ll find size guidelines as well as tips on what kind of yarn to use and the special instructions you need to make the hat perfect for its recipient.
The Halos of Hope website also offers both free patterns as well as paid patterns that benefit the organization and help defray the costs of their work. You can find these patterns at the “Store & Patterns” link. In addition, financial contributions are gratefully accepted; just visit their “Donate” page. If you need more information, you can visit their very user-friendly website.
If helping cancer patients is a cause near to your heart, I hope you’ll consider how your charity knitting can benefit Halos of Hope.