Donate Yarn to Charity

12 January 2012 Update: WOW — this is a popular blog entry. However, I’m not a charity; I’m just a person who had too much yarn and wanted to donate it somewhere. So I wrote this blog entry for others who had the same problem. But some links/organizations didn’t exist anymore. So here’s an update (all updates italicized).

As mentioned in earlier posts, I bought about a year and a half ago many skeins of rough, wool yarn, about $100 worth of it, at about (if I recall) $1 a pound.  It was an awesome deal: a rug manufacturing company was going out of business and was selling its yarn stock at cheap, clearance prices, which Happycrow made me aware of as he himself was looking for yarn to buy for his brother and sister-in-law (who knit).

It was such a good deal, that, like a person whose eyes are bigger than his/her stomach at a buffet, I bought more than I could possibly use.  For, in the hobby world of crocheting and knitting, it’s not always a good idea to buy too much of one kind of yarn, as different projects call for different kinds of yarn –  not only in color, but also varying degrees of softness and texture.

I ended up buying about 100 pounds of one kind of yarn — rough wool yarn, suitable for tapestries, rugs, and perhaps rough horseblankets and hats.  But, unfortunately, it’s a little too rough for against-the-skin pieces, like sweaters, socks, scarves, and throws.  So, after assessing the closet space I needed in order to make room for Daniel’s nursery, I realized that I needed to just plain get rid of at least half my stock.

“Surely,” I thought, “folks need yarn.”

So I went online, googled “donate yarn,” and found two charities that accept wool yarn.  And, after five boxes filled with yarn, sent parcel post today, I have more closet space and the two charities have boxes of sturdy wool yarn, winging themselves through the United States Postal Service.

Here are the charities (click the links for more details):

Emily’s Hats for Hope Initiative (Facebook page)
Emily’s Hats for Hope Initiative
c/o Nancy Harris
PO Box 133
Whitehouse, NJ 08888 

The Knitting Connection, Inc.
c/o Sue A. Manning
PO Box 560065
West Medford MA 02156-0065

Many Arms Reach You (M.A.R.Y.)
37 Kendall Avenue
Binghamton, NY 13903

Project Warm-Up (according to the January 2012, they REALLY need yarn).
c/o CAC
720 Court St.
Pasco WA 99301

It’s so cool, that crocheters and knitters can come together to create pieces for people in need. As a crocheter, I sometimes make throws and blankies because I enjoy the process of creating something, even though I may not need it, and often give what I make away to friends and family as impromptu gifts. But it’s good that charities are out there for folks like me to donate not only supplies (like yarn) but also finished pieces as well.

Oh, here’s another place — not for yarn, but for finished pieces, made only from wool:

Afghans for Afghans
c/o AFSC Collection Center
65 Ninth Street
San Francisco, CA 94103

12 Ways You Can Support Charities without Donating Money
 Click the link for the web article — it lists lots of charities that accepts finished knitted/crocheted/sewed pieces, like hats, socks, and blankets, as well as yarn.

Okay, I better stop now.