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Soldier
Project
Lapthrows 
Items
For Canadian Soldiers
This
project is in honour of my father a Private in the Second World War
and everyone else who has served our country.
The original idea of this project started as I sat at home and
looked out my window and saw Sunnybrooke Hospital in the distance.
I
started this project after thinking about all the military that are
away from their family and friends. I wanted to do something so that
they knew people thought about them and appreciate what they are
doing serving Canada. We keep to small usable items so they don't
take up a lot of room when sent to the soldiers or when stored by
each individual.
The
project is sending a hand-made item to a military person that is
stationed outside of Canada to show them that someone is thinking of
them. The items are for their casual/personal time and not worn on
combat duty, but are a token of appreciation with a personal touch.
The
items we are currently sending are:
* Hats
* Slippers
* Winter head bands
* Cool ties
* Soap savers (currently filled this
need)
The
hats, slippers and headbands are predominately knit or crocheted and
made out of acrylic yarns, so that they can be machine washed and
dried easily.
Wool
is NOT accepted due to allergies and a request by the Military.
Cool
ties are made of fabric (typically cotton) and have polymer
crystals in them
that absorb and hold water. The cool ties are worn around the neck
normally as a means of staying cooler in hot environments. The ties
can be reused a number of times by placing them in water and the
crystals will re-absorb water.
Soap
savers are small bags, knit or crocheted cotton yarn, that can hold a
bar of soap. We can not ship them with soap, so no need to provide
any soap with them. They can be used two different ways.
1.
A bar of soap can be stored in the bag between uses.
2.
The bag with a bar of soap inside can be Used as a washcloth in a
shower and then hung to dry.
There
are a group of individuals who assist in making the items and I
appreciate all of their support and hard work. When the items are
sent a tag is attached to each item showing where the item comes from
and an e-mail address where I can be contacted. Each tag also has a
three letter code written on it which identifies the individual that
made each item, this way any emails I receive would then be passed
along to this group of individuals. So far I have not received any
messages, but will pass them on when I do.
Below
is totals of what has been sent by the group to date:
March
2009 - 92 items
August
2009 - 209 items
March 2010 - 237 items
Total
to date 538 items
Deliveries
ongoing
If
you are interested in perhaps running this project through a military
base near you, please contact me (craftkitten @ gmail . com)
remove
spaces.
This page
last updated: December 12, 2010
Future
Project
Lapghans
to injured soldiers
I
would love to be able to provide a hand-made lapghan to an injured
soldier. I have the means of getting lapghans completed but do not
have a method of getting them to the soldiers needing them.
If I could find the hospitals where the injured soldiers go to once they are in
Canada it would be so much easier. I had found a hospital in
Germany that would except two lapghans but they would be used by the
family of the injured soldiers and not the soldiers.
I
am working on getting some lapghans to the veterans at Sunnybrooke
Hospital, but still want to send lapghans to more recently injured
soldiers.
One
of my biggest obstacles through out this process, is almost everyone
I contact says that they need just money instead of items or that
there is no need, which I don't believe from all the reactions we've
received from soldiers we have spoken to.
Any
ideas of who to contact would be appreciated but it does need to be a
Canadian contact.
(craftkitten
@ gmail . com) remove spaces.
Links:
Red Friday
This page last
updated: December 12, 2010