As you know, I like to knit. I usually either make stuff for us or for friends/family or I send to a place in Ohio that distributes to the homeless/people in need. That's all well and good, but it seems that everyone has all the stuff they need (let me know if you're in need of slippers or a hat) and the charity in Ohio really wants things in dark colors for men. I get it and I understand that there's not much dignity for a man to be wearing a wildly striped hat or scarf, but I am a little bored with knitting in black and brown, so I went searching for other places to donate.
I found Soldiers' Angels. I looked around their site and did some Google searches to see if it's a scam (probably not) and decided to sign up.
I've signed up to knit baby items for virtual baby showers for soldiers and the wives of soldiers, afghans for adults who are deployed or in a VA facility and to write letters to a couple soldiers. I also have an epal.
I wrote the epal first and already got a response. She's a woman in her 40s who has been deployed to Afghanistan. There is some info available about the people who are seeking correspondence and I picked her because I thought we'd have a few things in common. In her reply to my initial message, she said it was like a breath of fresh air to hear from me because getting to know someone new helps to pass the time and is a nice distraction from her mission.
If anyone can be a distraction from a mission...it's me.
I have letters ready to send to my other two soldiers and I've started an afghan.
It's only been a couple days since I enrolled, but so far so good. If you're looking for a way to encourage others, you might want to check out their website. Again, I'm new at this and make no endorsements. I know there are lots of scams out there, but this seems legit. You do have to put in a credit card so they can verify your ID and they charge it $1/mo apparently so they know who is active and who isn't. Everything else is on your own and you record how much time and money you spend on each thing you do.
I need to find some small things to include in my letters that could be a fun diversion. Any ideas?
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