Craft Hope Article

I contacted Jade from Craft Hope back in February about Another Child Foundation being considered for one of their upcoming projects. Craft Hope is an organization that encourages crafters around the world to make handmade items to fulfill a need and to spread hope. I had no idea what would happen, but I was praying and believing great things would come from this partnership. I have participated in a few of Craft Hope's projects before and love the community of crafters who use their talents to bless others. I tried to patiently wait until I heard back from Jade at the beginning of April. She let me know that Another Child Foundation would be featured for Project 21: Rally for Roma. I was so excited and kind of unsure of what to expect. Jade and I decided that we would collect hats, scarves and blankets in hopes of helping families in Romania keep warm during their harsh winters. Many of the wonderful people ACF works with in Romania live in condemned, Soviet era apartment buildings that are not completely sealed off from the elements. The objective of Project 21: Rally for Roma became to spread hope and warmth. After weeks of collecting packages from all over the world, I would say that we will definitely be spreading hope and warmth when these handmade items arrive in Romania sometime in the fall.

When Jade and I began organizing everything for Project 21, I sent pictures and stories to her and she let me know a little bit about the process. I remember her telling me that "it is all such a wonderfully amazing journey!" I didn't fully get her sentiment then, but I totally do now! In the past two months, I have received over 175 packages. I had the overwhelmingly awesome opportunity to go through each envelope and box. I counted and repacked each item, so that everything can be taken to a warehouse where they will then be put in to a shipping container and sent to Romania. As I pulled out each item and read the sweet notes sent from many participants, I realized that Jade was so right! This has been an amazing journey that has spread way further than I ever imagined it would! I received packages from Japan, Australia and New Zealand to name a few of the distant countries that sent handmade items! I have been blown away by the generosity of people who do not know about Another Child Foundation or the awesome things that they are doing in Romania. I am blown away by the effort each participant has put in to this project and know that each item will go to a person in Romania who will truly benefit from their hard work! This has been an unbelievable journey that continues on. I took the 30 plus large boxes of handmade hats, scarves and blankets to Dallas on June 7th and I can't wait to see them arrive in Romania and be distributed!

Here is the most recent count of the items ACF has collected for Craft Hope's Project 21: Rally for Roma!
Scarves- 620
Hats- 1008
Blankets- 300
Mittens/Gloves- 40
Booties- 26
Misc. Warm Clothing Items- 12

That's a total of 2,007 handmade items! WOW!! Thank you so much for your generosity! Together we are doing BIG things!