One element of crafting that I tend to focus on here is crafting for charity. I even have a blog post category for it and often post information and links to charities needing people to make items for them. While I have finally settled on mainly making crocheted baby items for a local charity as well as crochet squares for Heartmade Blessings, from time to time I have made items for other charities I have found posting a need on-line.

I’m sure these other groups mean well, so I’m not going to mention any specific names; however, many of them are a “black hole,” meaning I have sent them handmade items to their specific instructions only to hear nothing back, not an email thank you, little post card, nada. I realize this could take time and money they don’t have, so for one of my latest charity donations like this I enclosed an SASE and a note asking them simply to let me know if they received the items.

I figure there is no easier way to do this. Someone who gets the items simply has to scribble out a note, stuff it in the SASA, and mail it off. This was a good few months ago, and so far, no SASE has been returned. This sort of burns my toast a little because I could have spent the time making items for a group that I would at least know got them. Heartmade Blessings, for example, has a Yahoo group set up, and most of the posting on there is a simple “I’m sending out squares to so-and-so” or “Hey, so-and-so, I got your squares, thanks!”

It is amazing how much a simple response like, “Thanks, I received them” is appreciated!

This SASE incident sort of sealed the deal for me because it had happened so many times before. One time, I packed up a ton of jewelry supplies and mailed them off to some woman’s shelter. The shipping was something crazy, and yet, I felt it was worth it since I had been personally asked to do this. Did I hear anything? Nope!

Though I still plan to post on this blog about charity crafting needs, I have personally become much more selective about who gets my crochet or jewelry goodies. For those who work with groups like this, take a note from Heartmade Blessings and remember to thank donors if you want to keep getting the items you need. Seriously, an email “thank you” can literally take a few minutes per donor and may be reason enough for them to continue sending you the crafted items your group needs.