About starting a charity crafting group...

[peanut]

Has anyone done this? We were going to operate it through the church, but our minister doesn't want us to store anything there. We've decided to meet there to knit, and possibly do other smallish handwork we can carry with us. But any sewing will be done in one of our homes and will operate outside the church. None of us have healthy enough backs to haul sewing machines back and forth to the church once a week.

Does that seem reasonable to you? Given the minister's viewpoint of not enough room to store things at the church, I think it's the best we can do.

Are any of you involved in a charity sewing/knitting/crafting group? How is it organized? Where do you store stuff? Do you work within an organizational structure like a church? Or without? And who do you give your charity work to? How do you find these people and go about approaching them?

Gee, that's a lot of questions, but if anyone can help or give advice, I'm all ears.

Jean

[cheapskate 49]

We are a group of about 6 ladies who sew for charity.We meet once a month at a quilt store-they took us in after our other meeting place cancelled on us,that is one of the problems of sewing groups is finding a meeting place and if you have the church,and they do not charge you that is good.
We do bring our machines with us and it is easier now getting in and out of the store-no stairs etc.some of us also do work at home,I knit hats and scarves and another makes baby blankets.
Sometimes finding someone to give our work to can be a challenge,one of our members makes the phone calls when we are looking for recipients.
We do baby clothes and blankets for a group that gives to new mothers.
We make blankets,pillowcases,pj's and knitted slippers for a womens shelter.
Scarves and hats go to an unemployed help centre and we just started doing blankets and bandanas for the humane society.
A couple of us want to sew for little girls-dresses and such but we have not found any takers and I am looking for a place to take refurbished dolls and clothes.
I think when you get one charity on board they may be able to give you contacts for others.Does your church have any charities that they are involved with?.And it always helps to put the word out,a gentleman I know had a stroke and spent many months in a rehab centre and his wife(a sewer) noticed that the beanbags they used for muscle strengthing where pretty threadbare so a new project was born.


One of our members stores the items at her house and when she is ready to make a delivery she lets us know in case we have finished things to go.
I collect fabric yarn etc from garage sales,thrift stores donations etc. and they are in my basement.

Sorry this is going on so long I keep going back to your post to answer all your questions.We are not an "organised" group like registered charities we just meet and sew.Sometimes 2 folk show up sometimes 8 or 9.
Good luck to you. I can say it sure feels good making items to give away and we always get positive feedback from our recipients