Meet Friday Morning Charity - Crochet With Purpose!

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If you’ve ever wondered, “Where can I donate my crochet projects?” Read this!

When I started crocheting years ago, I made a TON of gifts. Shortly after that, I was overflowing with a surplus of handmade items (because crochet is addicting) and wasn’t sure what to do with all the extra. I sold some, but I was also searching for places to donate. I couldn’t find a central list or hub online, and was in a vacuum doing the research on my own. It was frustrating and lots of my finished projects just sat in drawers for years. I was so grateful to find an amazing group of crocheters who are donating their time and talents for some really great causes! Continue reading to learn all about how to donate finished crochet items to some wonderful agencies and non-profits.

If you can’t read the full post now, Pin the image below for later :)

Some of our personal friends run a nonprofit in our area and they just benefitted from a Friday Morning Charity drive in December - it was AMAZING to see how many crochet hats, crochet ear warmers, crochet scarves, and crochet blankets were mailed to Hannah Grace Family. These items were included in the Christmas “Bins of Joy” they prepare and give to families in vulnerable situations, many include children in foster care or parents who are struggling to keep their families intact. For more about Hannah Grace, click here.

Keep reading to learn more and meet Kelly & Amanda!

Friday Morning Charity, Spreading Love and Kindness Through Fiber Arts

My name is Kelly, and I am the one who founded Friday Morning Charity in June 2019. I started crocheting in 2018, and as soon as I became a stronger crocheter, I knew I wanted to use my crafting skills to help those in need. I truly believe that kindness makes the world go round, and I find crocheting for others who are in need as a way to spread that kindness. There is just something so wonderful knowing that I made something with my hands. When I donate an item, it is as if I’m giving the recipient a huge hug.

As the group grew, I asked Amanda to join me, and I was so grateful she said yes!

When I’m not working on things for Friday Morning Charity I’m hanging out with my husband and our 4 animals. I’m also a huge Starbucks connoisseur and love to grab coffee, sit, put some 80’s music on, and crochet. Also, I adore making baby blankets and have very slowly begun to sell some of my work.

Instagram: @fridaymorningcharity

Personal Instagram: @kellcrochets

My name is Amanda, and I help manage Friday Morning Charity with Kelly. I was fortunate enough that Kelly reached out in 2022 and asked if I wanted to be a part of her charity group. We both share the same values of wanting to help those less fortunate than us. What better way than to provide some comfort through warm and cozy handmade blankets, hats, and scarves!

When I’m not helping out with Friday Morning Charity, I run my own crochet boutique called Amanda Crochets. I share beginner tutorials on my YouTube channel and also have my own Etsy store where you can purchase crochet PDF patterns and completed blankets. My husband is super supportive of my crochet endeavors, and is often encouraging me along the way. After a long day of work, I enjoy sitting on my couch crocheting away.

YouTube: @amandacrochets

Instagram: @amandacrochets

Etsy Shop: Amanda Crochets22

How Charity Crochet Drives Work

To become a part of this wonderful group, you can visit our Facebook group. Once you answer our group’s questions and agree to our group rules, you will gain access and can learn about our upcoming charity drives. All charity drives and giveaways are run through our Facebook group, but we also advertise each drive on the Friday Morning Charity Instagram page.

We typically have 4 charities per year, focusing on helping women and children who are experiencing difficult situations. We also plan on helping veterans in a charity drive set for 2024. For each charity drive, we share some information about the organization, the dates the drive is taking place, as well as a list of items we’re collecting. We ask those that are donating to include a Friday Morning Charity donation card with their shipments.

The most requested item we receive from charity organizations are blankets. Whether it be baby blankets or throw blankets, these are always in high demand. However, we also work with organizations that request hats and scarves.

We like to plan our charity drives out in advance, so we can prepare things ahead of time as much as possible. Kelly contacts the organization and gets a little blurb from them that we can share this with our Facebook group. Amanda will create the graphics needed and schedule reminder posts throughout the drive. Sometimes we like to set a goal (say collecting 60 baby blankets) for a particular drive, so providing weekly donation updates is great encouragement. Once we have everything we need, Kelly introduces the new charity drive. We use a spreadsheet to keep track of everyone’s donations as well as how many items are collected throughout each drive.

During each drive, we host a giveaway, which is our way of saying thanks for being kind. We like to work with small business owners as we are big advocates of helping these smaller businesses grow. To enter each giveaway, we ask participants to donate at least 1 item and send us a photo before mailing out the package. Winners are randomly drawn at the end of each drive.

Our hopes for Friday Morning Charity is to grow in members, and with that growth, to have a larger impact on assisting charities and individuals in need. The success of Friday Morning Charity is due to the members we currently have. We have a wonderful group of individuals who donate to every single charity drive we hold. If it wasn’t for them we would not have the success rate that we do. We are extremely grateful to this group of people who make each charity drive such a success.

Crocheters, take action today!

The current drive (January 15 to February 29, 2024) benefits the Tulsa Day Center, an agency that assists the homeless population in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Friday Morning Charity is collecting hats for this agency and I am helping as the featured designer - I’m donating copies of my bestselling patterns as prizes. Anyone who sends a donation (and sends a photo of their donation) is entered to win! More information on the Facebook page. Please Pin and share the image below on social media!

I really hope this information is helpful and you are encouraged to use your crochet for the greater good. Your talents really are such a blessing to those in need. If you donate anything because you read this post, I’d love to hear about it and see your project - find me on Facebook or Instagram @icrochetsohard. Consider sharing this blog post on social media now to include more of your crochet friends in the Friday Morning Charity mission!

If you are looking for inspiration for items to donate, check out free patterns on my blog or from your favorite designer.

Let's stay connected

Don't forget to join my email list for news, exclusive discounts, sneak peeks of new patterns, and more! Click here to subscribe. If you don’t have a FB group yet, we’d love for you to join the We Crochet So Hard group! We have crocheters of all skill levels and fun challenges too.

Until next time,