Hands2Help Charity Challenge - The Signups and a Giveaway!

"What does love look like?

It has the hands to help others.

It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy.

It has eyes to see misery and want.

It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men.

That is what love looks like."

--St. Augustine

Hi, all!

Things are all falling into place for this year's Hands2Help Charity Quilt Challenge!  I'm so excited to get started!

This year we have three great charities to choose from.  You will be signing up to make a quilt or quilts for any or all of these three charitable causes.

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Option #1 - Quilts of Compassion

Our first charity is a new one this year, at least to me!  Karen, a past H2Her, suggested this group to me.  After speaking with Janice, the woman who founded the charity, I couldn't agree with her more!  Quilts of Compassion makes and collects quilts that are then given to a wide variety of people, but most recently they have found themselves out in the trenches, handing out quilts to people suffering from the after-effects of the tornadoes that have hit the midwest so devastatingly.  This group got together and made 200 quilts in three days (over a holiday weekend, no less!)  And they recently distributed over 1600 quilts to people in their Quilts For Oklahoma drive.  

They need quilts for men, women, children and infants.  Quilts can be quilted or tied, in any size.  They are also a 501-c-3 organization, so you can get a charitable donation letter for tax purposes if you request one.

Option #2 - Hurricane Sandy Survivors

Two years ago, one of our charities was The NOLA Project, sending quilts that the senior high school students of Gladeville Baptist Church would take to New Orleans and distribute to survivors of Hurricane Katrina as part of their on-going mission work in St. Bernard Parish.  Between the quilts donated through H2H and the quilts our own ministry made, 75 quilts were distributed there. 

All of the quilts that went to New Orleans!

 This year, that same youth group has decided to start a similar mission project in New Jersey, helping Hurricane Sandy survivors rebuild their homes and lives.  They will be going for a week in October as their first foray into this particular mission field, following up with additional trips on spring and summer breaks.  They worked in New Orleans for five years after Katrina, and it's entirely possible that New Jersey will prove to be a similar situation.  What many people don't realize is that the needs of the communities hit by natural disasters actually go on for years.  There's always an outpouring of support initially, but then it dies off and the survivors are left on their own to deal with the aftermath, including PTSD and depression.  Sharing quilts with these folks seems like a good idea, especially after this past winter!  Once again, quilts will be needed for men, women, children and babies, so any size is appropriate.  Quilts can be quilted or tied, although we do ask that they be sturdy so that they can be used rather than admired, and will hold up to wear and washing well.  This is also a 501-c-3 group and a charitable donation letter can be provided upon request.

Option #3 - Happy Chemo

Our final charity this year is an ongoing project of Emily of Em's Scrapbag.  You can choose to make quilts for Happy Chemo, an organization that provides quilts and comfort for chemo patients.  They also collect up and provide information about freebies and discounts that may be of use to chemo patients.  Emily has been championing this cause for a while, and has set a goal of providing 1500 quilts to Happy Chemo.  She’s already donated more than 600 quilts, and I’d like to see her numbers grow!  She has generously agreed to be part of this challenge, and is excited to see what comes of it.  Here's what Emily has to say about Happy Chemo...

"The first time I met Ginger Johnston, founder of Happy Chemo, it was my first visit to a chemo lab.  I was scared and unsure of what the future held for me.  In walked Ginger, bald and boobless but determined to bring a little sunshine into the chemo lab.  So before she started her treatment she took everyone’s name and drew prizes.  It so changed my experience that I knew I needed to help her in her quest.  I started making quilts for her to give.  Because I can’t sew as fast as cancer strikes I started asking for help.  I just want to bring a little comfort and joy to those who are facing the fear and uncertainty that trips to the chemo lab bring.  

I accept quilts that are 45” square to 60”x 72”.  Any style of quilt is accepted as cancer effects men and women, children and adults.  Thank you for any help."

Quilts made for this project will be sent to Emily to help her meet her goal of 1500 quilts donated to Happy Chemo!

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With three charities to choose from this year, you can make a wide variety of sizes and styles of quilts - something for everyone!! And if you're torn between the three charities, feel free to make more than one quilt!  Just think how many wonderful designs you can try.... ;-)

And as we did last year, to allow more international participants - if you live outside the United States and want to participate, you can send your quilt top and back to me and I will quilt it for you, to save you from having to pay huge international postage to ship a finished quilt.  Or in the alternative, you can choose a local charitable cause to give your quilt to.  So come on and join in, all you Aussies, Brits, Kiwis, and Canadians!  And anyone else who wants to join in!  

Here's the calendar for this year's 
Hands2Help Challenge:

Initial signups will be Sunday March 16th through Saturday, March 22nd.  You will receive one entry for signing up, and can get additional entries for putting the button on your blog sidebar, and/or posting about the challenge to encourage others to join in! Followers get an extra entry too.  (You can sign up after this time, but this is the period to sign up to be part of the signup giveaway.)

The following Sunday, March 23rd, we'll announce the winners of the signup giveaway.  

On Sunday, March 30th, there will be a linky party where you can post links to your favorite on-line tutorials!  It could be a tutorial for a quilt pattern, or a technique like machine binding, or even a recipe for your favorite "while-I'm-quilting" snack or crock-pot meal!  You don't have to write the tutorial, you can link up to another blogger's tutorial.  If you love it, someone else might too!

Sunday, April 7th, you'll Meet The Sponsors!  So many generous people have stepped up to provide giveaways for all of you fabulous H2Hers, and I'm sure you'll want to see who they all are - and maybe even do a little shopping for the challenge with them!  So far, we've got donations of fabric, gift certificates, books, and lots of other goodies - they'll be detailed to you in the April 7th post!

And then there's the guest bloggers!  You will definitely want to be here on April 13th, April 27th, May 4th, May 11th, and May 25th as we get to peek into the creative lives of some of our fellow H2Hers!  

There will also be check-in dates like last year, when you can link up and show your progress....  April 20th and May 18th.

Quilts should be completed by the week beginning Sunday, June 1st.  There will be a linky party (June 1st through June 7th) to link your finished quilt and show it off, and giveaways for people who link up their quilts.  We've got some great sponsors this year!  Winners will be announced on June 8th.

Quilts should be mailed to the appropriate place by Friday, June 13th.

Whew!  That's a lot of information to digest.  But I'll be sending out a PDF of the schedule that you can print out for yourself, to make it easier to keep up with the dates.  

And as promised, there's a giveaway!  Shannon, the owner of FabricsNQuilts, a great shop that is not only on-line, but also a brick and mortar shop in Jamestown, TN, is offering a $35 gift certificate for the signup giveaway.  

And not only that, she's offering free shipping for the duration of the challenge to all the participants!  

And C&T Publishing is offering a 25% discount to all participants on books ordered through their on-line shop, too.  The codes for both of those discounts will be emailed to the participants, so be sure to include your email address in your comment!

Also, Carol over at Fun Threads will be posting a free pattern every week for Hands2Help participants!  Each pattern will only be available for one week, so be sure to check in on her blog on Mondays!

So here's what you need to do to sign up….

1)   Leave a comment below with your email address in it (unless you are SURE you are not a no-reply blogger) so I can email you directly for your contact information, and send you the discount codes!  If you found out about the H2H Challenge from someone else's blog, let me know who, so they can get an extra entry as a thanks for spreading the word.

2)  For an extra entry in the giveaway, post the H2H button on your  blog sidebar.  You can grab the code for it in the little box under the button on my sidebar.  Then leave a comment saying you've posted the button, with a link to your blog.  If you've already done that, leave a comment saying you've done so with the link.

3)  For another entry, write a blogpost about the Hands2Help Challenge to help spread the word.  Leave a comment saying you've done it, with a link to your post.  If you've already written a post (Thanks!!) leave a comment with a link.

4)  And followers, both new and old, get one final entry.  Leave another comment letting me know you're a follower.  I'd really like to hit that 1000 followers mark sometime soon!!  Only 17 more to go…. (PS There'll be another giveaway then!)

Woohoo!!  Let's get started!!

Hugs!

Sarah

If you'd like to read about the previous Hands2Help Challenges, click here and scroll back through the posts!

PS - if you've commented on any of my posts and you haven't heard back from me, you are probably a "no-reply" blogger!  Check here for instructions on how to correct this problem, or leave your e-mail address in your comment so that I can reach you!  If you don't feel comfortable leaving your e-mail address out in public, you can e-mail me directly at salliesue(at)clearwire(dot)net.