Help Us Provide Care Packages

Posted on October 21, 2010 by Neil

In November Neil will be traveling with a group to deliver care packages to the needy and the homeless in the Slidell area of Louisiana. Unfortunately, there are many families in this area who are still struggling to recover from the various disasters that have hit the region in recent years – Katrina, Rita, and oil spill.

You can help us help them. We will be assembling and delivering simple care packages while we are there. We will be filling 1 gallon Ziplocs with much-needed items that will help the recipients through the holiday season.

Please consider donating any of the following items (you can drop them at the store), and we’ll make sure that they get to those in need.

You have always been so generous in the past, and we look forward to continuing the tradition of Wool and Company Customers stepping up to help those in our society who find themselves on the wrong side of the poverty trap.

Care package items (travel size bottles please):

Disposable razors
Shaving cream
Body/hand lotion
Toothbrushes
Nail clippers
Shampoo
Conditioner
Emery boards
Soap
Body wash
Combs
Deodorant
Candy
Gum
Energy/snack bars
Hot chocolate packets

You Helped Raise $26,000 to Heal Haiti

Posted on February 16, 2010 by Neil

Thank you for your support of our appeal to Help Heal Haiti. We have closed our current fund raising and we just wanted to let you know that as a result of your generosity we were able to raise $13,066!

We have forwarded all this money to our partner Knitting Fever who will write a matching check to double the total to $26,132.

Dido Shawl and Scarf Pattern

One month after the devastating earthquake, the emergency medical aid organisation Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders continues to work diligently to respond to the needs of the Haitian people, and your contributions will help to fund that effort.

If you missed our opportunity to donate to Doctors Without Borders and leverage the matching funds, you can still contribute and get some fabulous knitting patterns in exchange by visiting P/hop – a charity knitting project that raises funds for Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders. Incredibly generous designers donate their time and knitting patterns to p/hop, including the stunning Dido Shawl and Dido Scarf pattern pictured that has been generously designed and donated to p/hop by Åsa Tricosa.

Knitters Raise $26,000 to Help Heal Haiti – Update Saturday

Posted on January 23, 2010 by Neil

Saturday, January 23rd 2010, 4:00 pm. Geneva, Illinois.

(Read previous updates)

Click on this Logo to Donate

We closing in on $13,000 in donations received from you – the knitting community. Thank you again! Remember that will soon be $26,000 when it is doubled by the generosity of Knitting Fever. And this will be a cash donation to Doctors Without Borders.

Don’t send shoes, send money. Don’t send baby formula, send money. Don’t send old coats, send money. Read the article in the New York Times by Stephanie Strom that describes how cash is the most important thing you can give right now.

Don't let this emergency fade in your mind

Don't let this catastrophe fade from our sight.

We will be ending this fund-raising activity soon, so let’s have one more push – please, please, please help us by continuing to spread the word about our appeal. Pass this on to everyone you know – let’s make sure that we maximize Knitting Fever’s generous offer of matching dollars. Tell your friends that they can help Haitians immediately by donating to Doctors without Borders here (Médecins Sans Frontières). Use the “Share This” link below to twitter, facebook, blog, email.

Want to see how some of your money will be spent ….

Thank you once again.

Help Heal Haiti by Knitting

Posted on January 14, 2010 by Neil

Disaster Strikes Haiti, Thursday January 14th 2010

Click on this Logo to Donate

Read down to get current updates.

If you’re like us your heart is breaking as you watch the reports of the death and devastation that the earthquake has brought to Haiti. Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the Americas, where people live on less than $2 day, and it has been hit by another natural disaster.

The American Red Cross is estimating a death toll in excess of 40,000, and the lack of the most basic resources will make that toll rise if help is not immediate.

So here’s a way to help. Donate to Doctors without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières) and in return you gain free access to download the knitting patterns pictured below. For every dollar we raise one of our vendors will be matching (up to a maximum of $50,000). Knitting Fever, who supply us with some of your favorite yarns, including Noro, Louisa Harding and Sirdar have committed to making the match. Now that’s awesome – let’s see if we can max out that offer!

Click on comments below to get latest updates on fund raising.

Doctors without Borders work to provide medical aid in crisis situations – including natural disasters such as the Haiti earthquake. The Haiti disaster needs a rapid response with the specialized medical and logistical help that Doctors without Borders can provide.

You know how much you pay for patterns, so be generous and get some great designs in return. All these have been donated by the designers, and all proceeds go directly to Doctors without Borders.Go on, you know you want to, and as always thank you so much for your amazing generosity

Food Delivery

Posted on October 23, 2009 by Neil

Thank you to everyone that contributed in any way to our food drive.

We managed to collect more than 4 tons of food and delivered it to an almost empty food pantry in Biloxi, MS at the beginning of October.

I can’t tell you how appreciative the people of Mississippi are.

Here’s some pictures of the delivery.

Food Drive – The Numbers are In

Posted on October 4, 2009 by Neil

Thank you Wool and Company friends – you helped us to raise more than 7000 lbs of food that we’ll be transporting to Biloxi, Mississippi next week. We will be delivering it to the Bethel Lutheran Food Bank on Saturday morning October 10th.

You can be sure that many hungry mouths are going to feel your generosity and love.

Here are a couple of pictures of the food that we’d boxed ready to be shipped as of a week ago. Donations have continued to come in and we have a whole lot more food that needs to be boxed. We’ll take good pictures and post them here when we return.

Food Drive – Thank You

Posted on September 12, 2009 by Neil

Thank you to everyone who supported our Oktoberfestchen and participated in our food drive. Despite a sputtering griddle we had a lot of fun and served more than 100 potato pancakes. A big thank you also to Graham’s Chocolate who provided the fantastic location.

Here’s a picture of what we collected. Also, thank you for the kind donations of cash. We anticipate being able to add approximately 1000 pounds more of food using these donations.

Our customers are the best.

Don’t forget, you can continue to drop of food at the store through September 26th, and if you would prefer to give a cash donation, you can do that online.

Photos courtesy Shelly and Sidney …

Help Us Re-Stock the Food Bank

Posted on September 9, 2009 by Neil

Oktoberfestchen

I know it’s not October yet – but join us for our Oktoberfestchen anyway.

We are going to be cooking Reibekuchen mit Apfelmus (potato pancakes with apple sauce) tomorrow night, Thursday September 10th at 7:00 PM at Grahams 318 – come and try them.

There will be a nominal charge for the pancakes, and all money raised will be donated to a food bank in the Gulfport, Mississipi area. We will also be accepting donations of non-perishable foods for the food bank and in exchange we’ll serve you with a delicious potato pancake (and these are whoppers!).

This will be a fun event. In addition to the potato pancakes, a local brewery will be doing a live brewing of an Oktoberfest Beer, and there will be Beer and Chocolate Tastings! Pairings of 5 chocolates will be matched with 5 different Goose Island beers for a fee. And who can resist Graham’s Chocolate?

On top of all that, there’ll be music and entertainment at an open mike event that will taking place that evening.>

What a great way to start the Festival of the Vine that runs September 11-13 in downtown Geneva. Taste the autumn bounty while enjoying a flower market, arts & crafts show, demonstration stage, live music, the Kids’ Patch, and Gorgeous Gourds.

Fill A Truck With Food

Posted on September 1, 2009 by Neil

Hurricane Katrina Still Casts a Shadow Over People’s Lives

food bank The devastation of the Mississippi Gulf Coast began in 2005 with hurricanes Rita and Katrina. In 2008, hundreds of displaced residents were still living in dangerous temporary housing when Hurricane Gustav ravaged the area once again.

Next month, Neil and Charlotte will be traveling to Mississippi to work on the construction of a new community in Gulfport, Mississippi. They will help build homes with families who still are in need of simple, decent, affordable housing.

We have talked to community organizations in Gulfport and they tell us that there is desperate poverty in the area. The most fundamental needs of our fellow citizens are not being met. Children are going to bed at night feeling hungry! Consequently, Wool and Company is participating in a Food Drive to gather some basics that we’ll take to Mississippi for distribution by the local food banks and other community organizations.

Last year, you helped us fill 30 trunks with over-the-counter medicines that were so needed in Honduras. This year we want to fill a truck with food. Please, if you feel that you would like to help, bring your donations and drop them at our store in Geneva before September 26th.

Canned Vegetables – yams, peas, green beans, corn
Canned Fruits – pineapple, peaches, fruit cocktail
Canned cranberry sauce
Canned ham
Pasta sauce (noglass)
Stuffing mix
Dry Pasta
Rice
Jelly
Macaroni & Cheese
Peanut Butter
Soups
Cereal
Diapers & Baby wipes
Toilet Paper

Alternatively, if you prefer, you can donate online. $1 can purchase as much as 5 lbs of food for the food bank.

Tag Archives: disaster relief