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Kiva -- loans that change lives

Our wonderful niece gave us a Kiva gift certificate for the holidays. This was serendipitous because I had visited the Kiva website earlier in the year, gotten distracted and never returned.

Pete and I are big fans of Heifer International and you can't beat the Red Cross for crisis relief, but Kiva is something different. Here you are giving money to entrepreneurs to fund a small business venture. We aren't talking opening a McD's franchise -- it's more like lending them money to purchase seed, or buy inventory for a fruit stand. You are lending, rather than donating, the money -- it's all a part of the microfinance concept.

Kind of cool, isn't it?  Pete looked through the different loan requests and chose Ernalita, a rice farmer.  I'm looking forward to seeing what Ernalita does with her loan and wishing her the best with her farm.

Yesterday was a busy day

Yesterday was the 10th Annual Tim Klotz Memorial Golf Outing. Tim was my dad and he passed away while running on a beach 10 years ago -- at the age of 49. It was quite sudden as he had been healthy and athletic all his life. It was devastating for my mom, three sisters and I, as well as all of his friends and family.

And we could have chosen to become victims, feel sorry for ourselves, or simply tried to move on, but my mom isn't that type of person. And my dad had a lot of friends.

As my dad was an avid golfer -- often skipping work to play a round -- it was only fitting that everyone get together for a day of golf. Well, it has turned into much more than golf. Each year we raise quite a bit of money for local charities. In fact, we've raised well over $100,000 in the past 9 years. And yesterday was a good day. Despite the recession, despite the fact that my dad was in the mortgage industry, as were many of his friends, they all came together to support the foundation in his name and once again, we will be able to present much needed money to local charities who help mostly women and children -- many victims of abuse and assault -- and to fund mentoring programs in our local community.

It's a lot of work, and quite emotional, but it is rewarding and I'm glad that I have this kind of family and these kinds of friends in my life.

I guess I'm a procrastinator . . .

Because it took me until today to donate to Claudia's MS Bike Ride. So if you are a procrastinator like me and have been meaning to donate -- but then the phone rings, or you have to check your child's schoolwork, or the cats start fighting -- go do it today because the bike ride is this weekend!

Good Cause -- Fighting Childhood Cancer

Once again, my husband is having his head shaved to help fight childhood cancer.  Keep in mind, this is right in the middle of his job search (and he did it right before my sister's wedding last year!)  He is committed to this cause.  So if you think it's a good cause too, pop on over to his blog -- Pete Lit -- for all the details.  He's even doing a give away!

Vest -- Done!

You may remember that I was starting a vest a while back despite my sweater knitting phobia (malaise?)  It was for a good cause though and while I haven't shown any progress pics, I have been working away on it! 

Now knitting for yourself or your family is a different beast than charity knitting.  There were times when I really thought of stuffing this thing in a bag and throwing it in a closet, but I persevered!  The crochet edging nearly did me in, I tell you.  But the buttons were actually fun -- I mean, they actually lined up on the first try and buttoned and everything!

When I finished last night as Pete was reading Maddie her bedtime story, I did feel a sense of accomplishment.  I went and tried it on Maddie and Pete said it looked cute and that he could actually see Maddie wearing a vest like it.  This made me so happy!  Why?  Because if he liked it -- then some other parent out there would like it too and would feel good having their child wear it.  I hope it makes some child a little warmer and I only wish I had more confidence and time so that I could have made a sweater with sleeves.  Ah well, maybe next time. . .

• afghans for Afghans -- 900 sweaters project
• In-VEST for Peace pattern

I'm knitting a sweater (sort of. . . )

I've said before that I don't knit sweaters, but I suppose that rules are made to be broken.  I mean, I *have* knit sweaters before, so I guess I'm capable of doing it.  At any rate, I recently added the SOAR blog to my Bloglines (as I'm obsessed with the idea of actually attending SOAR one of these years) and they recently had an interesting post about the current afghans for Afghans project.  They are trying to get 900 sweaters or vests by the beginning of October, so that they have one for every student at the Afghans 4 Tomorrow schools.  Well, I looked through the patterns on their website and I saw the In-VEST for Peace which requires scraps of 100% worsted wool.  Now when you design felted bags for a living, one thing you have a lot of is scraps of 100% worsted wool!  And I've never knit a garment from side to side, so I figured I'd give it a try.  In one night I finished the entire left front! 

So, I'm attempting to break my own rule and knit this sweater (vest) and maybe it will keep a kid a little warmer this winter too.  I think I can, I think I can, I think I can. . . . 

St. Baldrick's '06!

Thank you to everyone who sponsored Pete! He was able to meet his goal (although if you would like to donate, his pledge page is still open!) and we had a fun day. There he is getting his head shaved!

And here is his "after" photo:

Thanks again!

Now I'm off to work on my quilting homework!

Shearing! (of a different sort)

Time for the annual shearing. . . not of my sheep silly!  Of my husband! 

Here he is after one of his shearings.  Why does he do this year after year you ask?  To fight childhood cancer with St. Baldrick's!  And you can help.  Please, please!  No amount is too small.  If you have a child in your life -- a son, daughter, grandchild, niece, nephew, godchild, you get the idea -- please think of making whatever donation you can. 

You can read more about this great cause at Pete's blog or at St. Baldrick's website.  Pete hasn't met his fundraising goal yet, but I know that with the help of you he will be able to blow it away!! 

Thanks for listening -- this is a cause that is really near and dear to us.  It means a lot!

Mail!

I got a gift-y in the mail!  It's some lovely Endicott Merino from Ashland Bay.  Can't wait to spin this up!  Thanks Natalie!

And in Katrina charity news, Christine at Big Pink Cookie is hosting Knitting for Katrina.  Go check it out!

Give a Little!

Isn't Margene wonderful to set all of this up?  There is even a Give a Little Blog!  I've donated to the Red Cross and I'm going to donate some patterns for the drawing too.  I mean, I have a house and food and so much more.  These poor people have nothing.  Hard to even comprehend.

And don't forget the animals!  The Humane Society Disaster Relief Fund is working to save pets and to help their owners too!

Charity Event!

I think I may have mentioned that my family and some of our friends have a charity event every year -- this is our 6th year!  It's a golf outing that is a memorial to my dad who died 6 years ago from a sudden heart attack at the age of 49.  He loved to golf and so we have a golf outing to raise money for local charities.

This year we will be adding two new charities that I think do incredible work:

• Guardian Angel Home -- This is a home that shelters abused women and children in the Joliet area.  They also take in students who are excluded from their school district for behavioral problems.  They foster abused and neglected children.  They also counsel and advocate for victims of sexual abuse.  And they have programs for before and after school and during the summer for children without supervision. 
• Big Brothers Big Sisters -- You may have heard of this charity.  They do both one-on-one and group mentoring activities.  They pair kids with an adult, or adult couple, who mentors the child.  This requires careful screening, which costs money.  And Big Brothers Big Sisters does not get any federal or state funding.  Right now they are trying to switch to a better screening process which requires fingerprinting.  We are hoping to help them to achieve this goal.

So basically what we do is 100% volunteer.  Every single penny that we make is given to charity.   We even do our best to get every thing possible donated for the event -- printing, food, items for the auction during dinner. . . you get the idea.

So, I guess what I'm asking, is if you are interested in donating, I will make sure that your donation goes to a worthy cause!  We are a registered charity, so your donation is tax deductible. 

Thanks!!