Knitting for Charity

A few weeks ago I joined a knitting for charity group of ladies. These ladies created this group about 7 years ago. They knit projects for the elderly who are in need of afghans, scarves and hats that help keep them warm in the winter months. They also knit outfits for stuffed animal bears that are sold to help a Charity called Heart to Hearts here in Shanghai. This in an organization that provides funds for children outside of Shanghai that need to have heart surgery and their families can't afford to come into the city to have the surgery and stay while their child is having surgery and then need to stay in the area to recover. They tend to keep the children in the area for a few weeks to make sure they are healing well, incisions don't get infected etc. Since the chances of them getting proper care at home is questionable they keep them nearby until they are healed.

So when I showed up they gave me a very easy project. A scarf. Hopefully I won't mess that up. I also started to learn how to knit a pair of felted wool slippers. This project is a little more exciting then my scarf project. There are knitters of all skill levels and of course from all countries. This group meets every Thursday afternoon for a few hours, you just show up when you can. It is fun to sit around and knit and hear all of the different accents and conversations going on.

Did you know that in China elementary and middle school education is free but students have to pay for their high school education? Needless to say more male students then female students attend high school. A lot of the girls are sent off to work. This group of knitters have also funded over 100 girls high school education and have also funded some college educations. They can do this by selling some of their projects at local bazaars in the area.