Mission Statement

Operations for Bridge and Beyond will cease on Dec 31, 2021, last mailing date should be Dec 24th

GOAL FOR AFGHANS

Afghans
Goal: 30
Start: #24
Current: 26
0.8666%
START
END

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Sandie's Super Soft Set Donated

scarf and hat setAwesome brown crocheted set here from our long time friend Sandie in Louisiana. I love the color, I love that it's big enough for the men folk, and I love how super soft it is. Many thanks Sandie for your thoughtful donation. As always, your work is sooooooo nice. As we're fast approaching the month of November which will be Jack Otis Memorial Month and a focus on our Men...this is most timely.

2011 Donations:


Scarves
356+1=357
Hats 736+1=737
Mittens 143
Socks 135
Squares 515
Rain Ponchos 84
Cotton Washcloths 324
Sweaters/Poncho's 7
Slippers 90
Afghans 40 (2 sent to our friends at Pine Street)
Misc Items I've not counted misc items like all the personal care items, the neck warmers, head bands or yarn etc.

**Using double yarn makes a slipper super warm and very sturdy, and or make two and put them together. Using different colors inside and out can make them reversible**

When people ask me why I take time to knit/crochet? This is what I tell them. You've probably heard me say it before, but I continue to get the question....no doubt you do too.
The message behind a hand made item, be it knitted, crocheted or loomed is powerful. The message that someone you didn't know took time to make something especially for you is awesome, is powerful, is important. That's why we donated hand made items. We keep them physical warm...yes; but we offer hope because of the specialness with a hand made item. Thank you for all you do. Keep up the good work folks.

All donations regardless of size and number are valued. All donations are appreciated, and all donations keep someone warm. We help, one stitch at a time. YOU truly DO make a difference. THANK YOU!

Friday, October 28, 2011

Making Jewels from Donated Squares

squaresI've batted around names for this ghan and have finally settled on Jewels. I started out with pastel jewels, then someone said it reminded them of birthstones, which are gems, which are jewels.....right? All the squares/rectangles are crocheted except the bright purple and the mauve one. Many of the squares were donated by Cheryl S, just recently HERE; I added others on hand from others donations and
jewel in the workshave started edging in off white/ivory, as you can see. This ghan will be donated to The Homeless Families Foundation for our Project Welcome Home.

The message behind a hand made item, be it knitted, crocheted or loomed is powerful. The message that someone you didn't know took time to make something especially for you is awesome, is powerful, is important. That's why we donated hand made items. We keep them physical warm...yes; but we offer hope because of the specialness with a hand made item. Thank you for all you do. Keep up the good work folks.

2011 Donations:


Scarves
356
Hats 736
Mittens 143
Socks 135
Squares 515
Rain Ponchos 84
Cotton Washcloths 324
Sweaters/Poncho's 7
Slippers 90
Afghans 40 (2 sent to our friends at Pine Street)
Misc Items I've not counted misc items like all the personal care items, the neck warmers, head bands or yarn etc.

**Reminders:
Include a note with your donation
Do not tie and cut when changing yarn, leave several inches and weave in your ends
Avoid open lacy stitches, general rule of thumb if you can poke your finger throw the stitches, they aren't as warm as they could be.
Avoid white as much as possible, shows dirt too easily
Lots of info in FAQ and Before you donate

Did you know you can click on the tags of any post and be taken to previous posts from either that individual (if you click on their name), or other posts that have those words...ie. mittens, hats, scarves, socks, etc.? That way you can always look around the blog and see other items these folks have made, or see other similar items.


All donations regardless of size and number are valued. All donations are appreciated, and all donations keep someone warm. We help, one stitch at a time. YOU truly DO make a difference. THANK YOU!

Thursday, October 27, 2011

International Donation!!

matching crocheted setLovely purple crocheted set of mittens, hat, and scarf donated by Damaris all the way from Puerto Rico! AWESOME. Very nicely made, love the way you trimmed it also Damaris. Thank you so much for your thoughtful donation. I could hardly wait to open the box when I realized where it came from. I was sooooooooooo excited I told everyone I came in contact with that day.

2011 Donations:


Scarves
355+1=356
Hats 735+1=736
Mittens 142+1=143
Socks 135
Squares 515
Rain Ponchos 84
Cotton Washcloths 324
Sweaters/Poncho's 7
Slippers 90
Afghans 40 (2 sent to our friends at Pine Street)
Misc Items I've not counted misc items like all the personal care items, the neck warmers, head bands or yarn etc.

**Reminders:
Include a note with your donation
Do not tie and cut when changing yarn, leave several inches and weave in your ends
Avoid open lacy stitches, general rule of thumb if you can poke your finger throw the stitches, they aren't as warm as they could be.
Avoid white as much as possible, shows dirt too easily
Lots of info in FAQ and Before you donate

Did you know you can click on the tags of any post and be taken to previous posts from either that individual (if you click on their name), or other posts that have those words...ie. mittens, hats, scarves, socks, etc.? That way you can always look around the blog and see other items these folks have made, or see other similar items.

The message behind a hand made item, be it knitted, crocheted or loomed is powerful. The message that someone you didn't know took time to make something especially for you is awesome, is powerful, is important. That's why we donated hand made items. We keep them physical warm...yes; but we offer hope because of the specialness with a hand made item. Thank you for all you do. Keep up the good work folks.

All donations regardless of size and number are valued. All donations are appreciated, and all donations keep someone warm. We help, one stitch at a time. YOU truly DO make a difference. THANK YOU!

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Homeless, Cold Children in Need THANK YOU!


If you read our blog on a regular basis you know we help many groups. We donate our hand knit and crocheted items to 2 family shelters (The YWCA, The Homeless Families Shelter), we donate our items to 2 free clinics (that care for women and children on the West Side of town), we donate our items to Holy Family (who passes out items to those in need along with a hot meal). Lynn the lady who delivers our items to Holy Family during her volunteer hours also distributes our items to several other areas in need. One such location is Broad Street Elementary School who's children have great need. Many who attend are in fact homeless, many in dire circumstance. It's very difficult to obtain a necessary education when you cold, and hungry and fearful about where you'll be sleeping the night. Though I know we can't take care of all their needs, we can make an important difference with warm hats, scarves, and mittens for these kids.

Here's a nice note from the principal I wanted to share with you all. AND add my thanks to you, for all the work you do.
------------------------------------------
West Broad Elementary
2744 West Broad St.
Columbus, Oh 43204

CCS Mission: Each student is highly educated, prepared for leadership and service, and empowered for success as a citizen in a global community.

October 14, 2011


To Our Friends at Bridge and Beyond,

On behalf of our students and staff, I would like to extend our sincerest gratitude for your donated hats and gloves. Our students are often deprived of clothes and essentials at home and the burden of supplying materials for all of our students becomes very costly. Your generosity and kindness will bring smiles to many students. Those students that receive your materials will surely be grateful and appreciative. It eases the minds of those students that are not prepared with warm clothes to be given them during the cold winter season. I am impressed with your dedication to the children and the neighborhood.

Again, I thank you, my staff thanks you, and most of all, the students thank you.

Sincerely,


Pete Kurty, Principal

and

The staff and students of
West Broad Elementary School
-------------------------------------------
*this is a cut and paste of an email attachment I received, so the spacing is a little off, but I wanted you all to see it*

Highland Elementary School is another school in need that our friend Lynn made a delivery too. Additionally, some donations went to St. Vincent DePaul in Vinton County. Vinton County is one of 29 counties in the state that fall into the Appalachian area. These area's are the poorest in the state. I am hoping donations will continue at such a level that we can continue to spread our wings like this and go "beyond". Vinton is in the brown area when you look at the above map. Franklin, is the county where our clinics, shelters, and Bridge folks are ...that's the orange area.

Asking everyone who reads this today....Please tell at least one person about our cause. Tell them in person, tell them in an email, tell them about it through Facebook, your blog, Twitter. Thank you!

October is mitten month, let's see if we can boast those numbers, still a little bit of time left in the month; though please remember..........we collect them all year long.

November's focus will, Jack Otis Memorial Month, please keep checking in (men will be the focus).

2011 Donations:

Scarves
355
Hats 735
Mitts 142
Socks 135
Squares 515
Rain Ponchos 84
Cotton Washcloths 324
Sweaters/Poncho's 7
Slippers 90
Afghans 40 (2 sent to our friends at Pine Street)
Misc Items I've not counted misc items like all the personal care items, the neck warmers, head bands or yarn etc.

**Reminders:
Include a note with your donation
Do not tie and cut when changing yarn, leave several inches and weave in your ends
Avoid open lacy stitches, general rule of thumb if you can poke your finger throw the stitches, they aren't as warm as they could be.
Avoid white as much as possible, shows dirt too easily
Lots of info in FAQ and Before you donate

All donations regardless of size and number are valued. All donations are appreciated, and all donations keep someone warm. We help, one stitch at a time. YOU truly DO make a difference. THANK YOU!

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Donated Squares = Rainbow Bright Afghan = Happy Little Girl


You may remember seeing these donated squares (thank you Cheryl S) and afghan start HERE. Here is another afghan that by the time you read this scheduled post has already been donated to our Welcome Home Project for The Homeless Families Foundation. Bright and cheery, I think Rainbow Bright (you know how I like to name all the ghans), should bring a smile to a little girls face.

While December is the month to donate squares, if you're mailing other items and want to include them with your hats, scarves etc. to save postage, please feel free to do so.

We have a few more days in October for our Mitten Focus, and November will be The Jack Otis Memorial Month, with a focus on Men. Please keep checking in.

How you can help-- even when your knitting and or crochet time is tight
Visit the blog, read, spend time, and post comments. Remember you do not need to be a blogger to leave comments. Simply type your comment, click the drop down box under the comment area that says name and url, leave the space for url empty. Please use this option and not anonymous. Anonymous comments often end up in the spam folder. Visiting, reading, spending time, and commenting help the blogs placement. Helping the blogs placement in search engines helps us be easier to find, being easier to find gets us more helping hands. More helping hands=more people in need we can help. Please share our blog link with your friends, family, and co-workers...even if they aren't bloggers or knitters or crocheters.

2011 Donations:

Scarves
355
Hats 735
Mitts 142
Socks 135
Squares 515
Rain Ponchos 84
Cotton Washcloths 324
Sweaters/Poncho's 7
Slippers 90
Afghans 39+1=40 (2 sent to our friends at Pine Street)
Misc Items I've not counted misc items like all the personal care items, the neck warmers, head bands or yarn etc.

Please read how you can help if you've not read it recently, also check out FAQ, thank you!

All donations regardless of size and number are valued. All donations are appreciated, and all donations keep someone warm. We help, one stitch at a time. YOU truly DO make a difference. THANK YOU!

Monday, October 24, 2011

Slippers, and Socks, and Scarves Oh My !

donations for homelessWowzer, another great donation from the hook of Annemarie in New York. 4 wonderful, soft, and large scarves, 2 hats, 3 pairs of slippers, and 12 pairs of socks. Annemarie...you rock!

Thank you, thank you, for your thoughtful donation. Please keep up the good work. By the way, these slippers are the first I've seen like this (I think from memory), what pattern did you use?

Mitten monthly is fast approaching an end, if you're busy knitting and crocheting mittens you still have time.

*Remember to include a note with your donation with your name, address (state), email ady, blog url, facebook profile, RAV profile etc; so I can let you know your donation arrived, get things properly documented. Please review the 3 lists here on the blog. Is a state listed by your name? Still have lots without....please let us know by leaving a comment so we can get states added to the map. You do not need to be a blogger to leave a comment, click name and url and leave url blank. Please do not use anonymous. To aid with unidentified donations a section has been added to the right side bar*

2011 Donations:


Scarves 351+4=355
Hats 733+2=735
Mitts 142
Socks 124+12=135
Squares 515
Rain Ponchos 84
Cotton Washcloths 324
Sweaters/Poncho's 7
Slippers 87+3=90
Afghans 39 (2 sent to our friends at Pine Street)
Misc Items I've not counted misc items like all the personal care items, the neck warmers, head bands or yarn etc.

**We've added 2 family shelters to our mission-- the list of people we help. Making the list as follows:
Bridge Folks (primarily Men) who live outdoors
Nancy Place through Faith Mission (all women), some of whom have been abused as well as homeless
Faith Mission, Men and Women (mostly Men)
2 Free Clinics, Women and children NO Babies
Holy Family (who pass out warm items along with a hot meal)
The Homeless Families Foundation, Men, Women, and Children....families(temporary housing for 47 families)
The YWCA Family Shelter, Men, Women, and Children....families(temporary housing for 100 families)**
As the list of those in need grows, I'm hopeful that pulling together we can grow our donations to meet the need. I'm hopeful we can spread the word, find more helping hands, and knit and crochet enough. Please help, and know it does matter!!

All donations regardless of size and number are valued. All donations are appreciated, and all donations keep someone warm. We help, one stitch at a time. YOU truly DO make a difference. THANK YOU!

Where are You and Your Yarn From?

I'm trying to identify where everyone is from, partially for fun. Take a look at the map. Also, believe it will aid me in cases where we have several people with the same name. Please look at the lists of bloggers and non bloggers and see if I have the state you hail from. If not, please leave a comment and let me know.

Additionally, we've had help from Scotland, England, Germany Puerto Rico, Canada, and France! They don't appear on the map, but their help is still greatly appreciated.

Where The People Who Donate Come From, is your state represented?