This is Dee, your CSI Girl with a special announcement and message.
If you wander around this blog, you will find a cause that is near and dear to my heart. It is called Giraffe Grins and it is a charity that I created to spread colorful and cheerful pillowcases to children in hospitals. Why do I care so much?
It is simple. I found myself in a Children’s hospital as a child too. I was scared, my family was scared and we were alone. I remember the big giraffe that was painted on the wall and the comfort it brought me. It was bright and colorful and was about the only thing that I could smile about.
So, now I remember the big giraffe and I remember those kids that find themselves in those hospitals today. They may be lonely and most likey scared. So, my mission is to deliver colorful and bright pillowcases to these kids all around the country and I hope they grin as big as the giraffe on my hospital wall.
I am so grateful to have Giraffe Grin Affiliates{read all about them here} around the country who sew pillowcases on behalf of GG and deliver them to their local hospitals. We have affiliates in Boston, New York, Georgia, Virginia, Kentucky, Texas, LA , Wisconsin and Arizona. There are so many more parts of the country and so many children’s hospitals that I would love to touch and spread Giraffe Grins to.
This holiday season is fast approaching and one thing I want to make sure of this year, is that we reach many, many kids in hospitals by delivering fun, colorful pillowcases.
This year I am organizing a national sewing day. That means anyone can participate no matter where you are. You can gather a sewing group or sew by yourself. Then, deliver these pillowcases to your local children’s hospitals. If you do not have one near you, then you can mail them to me or any of my affiliates and we can make sure they get delivered. If you do not sew but want to help, you can purchase fabric and mail to me or any affiliates as well. This cause has something for everyone. Anyone can help!
Holiday Grins National Sewing Day is November 3rd.
~ Gather a sewing group and plan what times and where you will sew. Then, contact local hospital to set up delivery day and ask what their procedures are . Every hospital is different.
~ I will check in on you so I will need the leader of the groups email address so they can call in and take part of a special Podcast. I will talk to each group and see how the sewing is going and talk about what this means to you and why you are helping.
~ There will be giveaways throughout the day as well for sewing groups, so if you own a shop or Etsy shop and you want to participate, then email me with “Holiday Grins Sponsor” as the title of email.
~ If you want to donate fabric, I am looking for Christmas kids fabric and regular bright and cheerful kids fabric. Both will be made. 1 yard makes 1 pillowcase. Email me with “Holiday Grins Donation” as the email title.
Here is a list of our affiliates and where they live so if you live near them and want to contact them, please do so.
Michelle McCarthy Manteiga
Website: www.stitchawishdesigns.com
email: michelle@stitchawishdesigns.com
Boston, MA
Trina Mitchell
blog/website: http://craftanyway.blogspot.com/
Blog Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Craft-Anyway/
Syracuse, NY
Tammi Law
Email: tammilaw@gmail.com
Texas Children’s Hospital and Children’s Memorial Hermann in Houston
Megan Bray
blog/website: Balancing Home (www.balancinghome.com)
Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin (Wauwatosa, WI)
Amanda Wick Cunningham
blog/website: www.amandawickcunningham.blogspot.com
Blog Facebook: www.facebook.com/kaleidoscopeofcolors
Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles
Nikki Wright
blog/website: everything-underthemoon.blogspot.com
Blog Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Everything-Under-the-Moon/290147087666273
Boston Children’s Hospital
Elizabeth Ford
blog/website: http://www.lizzyford.blogspot.com
Children’s hospital Macon, GA
7th and 8th Graders of KCMS FCCLA
Waynesboro, Kentucky
Feel free to contact any of our affiliates to connect with for the Holiday Grins Pillowcase Drive.
I want each group to come up with a goal on how many pillowcases they will make and deliver. Then, the leader can email that to me and as we check in with each group, we can see how close we are to that goal.
So, if you would like to be a leader of a group, email me with “Holiday Grins Group Leader” as the title and we can get started.
Thank you for your interest and support of Giraffe Grins. I know these pillowcases make a difference to children and their families as they go through a hard trial in their lives.
I can honestly say that, knowing that the BIG colorful giraffe made my hospital stay better.
I believe in the principles that this blog was inspired by and I believe that we can live our lives with the same motto to
Create, Share and Inspire.
I would even add to serve one another to that and YOU can serve those around you or even brighten a child’s hospital room from far away.
You can do this by partnering with, The CSI Project and Giraffe Grins.
I hope you will consider helping this holiday season and taking part in
Every child counts, every pillowcase makes a difference and every grin brightens someone’s day!
To contact me:
Email me at dee@thecsiproject.com
How will you spread the grins this holiday season?
Giraffe Grins, that is!