General Update on K-HeLP (Knitted Helmet Liners Project)

We have experienced a small flurry of interest and activity with K-HeLP and wanted to share it with you.

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An email from my nephew contained this comment when he received his first 'goodie box' after being deployed to Iraq: "The helmet liners went fast. Once the weather cools down I'm sure I'll have a few guys asking about them. Thanks." He is in a small, isolated group of soldiers and more liners are headed his way in the next box.

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A volunteer found our project by 'Googling' - which delighted me when she wrote in support and with enthusiasm as she began her first liner.

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A group in Saginaw, Michigan donated 45 liners to their local armory and emailed us the total to include in this project.

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We received the following email and hope some of our readers can help with this request. Please email me with any Canadian project info so we can post it for all to find.

Hello Kae,

I have read about the helmet liner project in several magazines and have found your website as well. However, I am Canadian and would like to knit for the Canadian soldiers. Do you know of any projects up here in Canada? Thanks for the help and good luck with the 2010 challenge!

Thanks,

Melanie

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Another great email we received is the following:

Hi,

I am the volunteer coordinator with the American Red Cross at Fort Dix, NJ.

I decided yesterday (when we gave out the last of our donated knitted helmet liners) that I would start a campaign to have helmet liners knit for the soldier deploying from Fort Dix. We canteen on a regular basis for mobilizing soldiers from all over the country. We recently received some knitted helmet liners and put them out for the soldiers. They quickly disappeared. We wished we had more. I have since sent out word ot all the American Red Cross chapters in New Jersey to help with this project.

Do you have any suggestions or pointers you can offer?

Thanks for any help you can offer.

Joan Brown

Volunteer Coordinator

American Red Cross of Burlington County

Fort Dix Service Center

In a follow-up email that we received from Joan after we sent suggestions she offered this additional information about Fort Dix and her situation.

"Fort Dix has just recently merged (Oct 1st) with McGuire AFB and Lakehurst NAS and we have become the nation's 1st megabase. We will have the Army, Air Force, Navy, Coast Guard and Marines all operating out of this joint base.

"It is an exciting time of change for all. We have 1 Red Cross Service Center located on Fort Dix which will service all branches of the military."

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WOW! What a mission and opportunity to serve our men and women in uniform.

My purpose in including the emails in this update is to help these other people with their projects. The reason that Carla and I had teamed up together with K-HeLP is to provide helmet liners for every service man or woman who wants one. The more people who are knitting the faster we will reach this goal.

I am happy to be the contact person for any questions or information you need. Just ask and I'll do my best to find out or help in any way I can.

Happy knitting everyone.

Sharing Our Gifts Donation Sent

I decided to participate in this project, found a slipper pattern that seemed simple enough I could follow it and started knitting. The slippers knitted up so fast I decided to do 2 pair with matching hats. They were mailed off last week and have arrived - please click the logo above for a direct link to the donation site and her write-up.

Here are the pictures. Since I find knitted slippers very slick on hard surfaces, I purchased a bottle of 3D fabric paint and decorated the bottoms so that they had gripping power. These are going to a veterans home so I didn't want any 'slip and fall' issues from the slippers.

Here is the link to the slipper pattern I found. It is easy and free.

http://blog.innerchildcrochet.com/?p=358

911 Helmet Liners Challenge Final Total

WOW!!! The knitters have outdone themselves on this challenge - final total is 1,142 liners knitted and donated. Here are just the 14 I knitted this last week. I decided to display them in the 911 format. These liners must be knitted of 100% wool.

A HUGE THANK YOU to all who knitted and helped promote this challenge. Over one thousand of our troops will benefit from your talent, generosity and time.

Details of the new challenge will follow shortly.

Sharing Our Gifts

We are so fortunate to be living in these times where we can stay connected easily, have the knowledge to help others and people such as these to head up projects so we can do so easily.



"So, Project # 1:

Our 50 states tour begins in the beautiful state of Oregon. We will be making hats and slippers for Veterans at the Southern Oregon - White City Rehabilitation Center. It is a 600 bed facility, and I am told that they always appreciate hats and slippers. These can be knitted, crocheted, or sewn. The key is that they must be handmade. If you don't make items yourself, but you want to contribute, you could purchase handmade items at Etsy, Artfire, 1000 Markets,or some other handmade venue."

The above statement is copied directly from the original post. I want to add that I've joined in this great adventure and hope that others will as well. Please sign up by clicking on the logo included in this post - it will take you directly to the Sharing Our Gifts blog.

Happy crafting.

Kae