We Care – Maine: Charity Kniting for People in Poverty
We Care – Maine is a thriving charity group on Ravelry. Its mission is simple: to care for people in poverty in the state of Maine through knitting, crocheting, and sewing. This group began as so many charity groups begin: by knitting and distributing hats. As the crafters of the group continued to hear of the needs of people in poverty living in their state, naturally the generous group members desired to branch out and try to meet those needs. The hat knitting group that began in 2012 now reaches out to help so many: people in homeless shelters, women and children in domestic violence shelters, and babies and children living in poverty.
How to Contribute
We Care – Maine functions entirely on the Ravelry.com website, so if you want to lend a hand, you’ll need to sign up for Ravelry if you haven’t already. (I beat the drum for Ravelry a lot, I know, but I firmly believe that if you’re a knitter, you miss out on perhaps the greatest Internet resource for knitters if you don’t sign up!) Ravelry is completely free to join. Once you’ve signed up for Ravelry, you can visit the We Care – Maine group page and join. (Note that if you aren’t a Ravelry member, clicking on the link above will take you to the Ravelry home page, where you can sign up. Once you’re logged in, you may need to click the link again to get to the group page.) You can find the group’s current needs under the “Fresh Discussion Threads” forum, with a thread helpfully titled “Current needs.” I had the chance to communicate with Kathleen Thomas, the We Care: Maine group moderator, and she let me know that children’s mittens, baby and toddler items, and men’s hats are always needed. She added, “We knit year-round and still can’t fill all the needs this time of year.” Finished projects can be sent to her at this address: 496A Main St Kingfield, ME 04947 You may want to send her a Ravelry PM when you are about to ship finished items to her so that she can be on the lookout for them. If you currently live in Maine, were born in Maine, or just have a heart for Maine-land people in poverty, this is a wonderful charity kniting group to contrbute to!