Where To Donate Blankets

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Where To Donate Blankets

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Where to Donate Blankets

Where indeed! Chances are you've asked this question because you've crocheted a blanket for just about everyone in your life and you're looking to spread the love around a bit more. But, whether you have a pile of crochet blankets just sitting in the closet waiting for a happy home or you're looking for a charitable project (or seven!) for the upcoming holiday season, this convenient list of charitable organizations that specialize in blanket donations will help you give someone in need the gifts of warmth and hope. These organizations accept and facilitate donations 365 days a year. Some of the charities work locally, some nationally, and some internationally, though all have U.S. addresses where you can send donations. Find one that speaks to you! Or even two or three!

Your crochet hook is a powerful tool that can give people hope, help comfort them, and even provide life-saving protection against the cold. So put those hooks to extra good use with your next project and work up some warmth for a sick child or a wounded veteran or even a shelter dog or cat. Then take a picture of your project and post it in the comments at the bottom of this page to encourage others to follow in your generous stitches!

Paired with each charitable organization is a suggestion for a suitable quick and easy crochet blanket pattern. Just a small amount of time and yarn can make a big impact in a child’s, adult's, or animal’s life!

Some Things to Keep in Mind:

  • Use soft and machine-washable yarn when you're hooking these blankets so recipients stay cozy and blankets can be easily cleaned.
  • Use patterns that don't create a lot of holes in the fabric because most of these blankets will be used for warmth as well as comfort.
    • This note is especially important for blankets made for use in hospitals because IVs and other hospital equipment can get caught in holey fabric.
  • All of these non-profits need financial support, so if you're unable to contribute a blanket or a square, you can give some green. Each organization's website has a quick and easy form you can fill out to help facilitate the mission of warmth and hope.

1. Project Linus

Easy and Elegant Crochet Blanket Pattern

Project Linus is a national organization that donates blankets to children in need. Whether going through chemotherapy or recovering from a trauma, these kids need all the warmth and hope we can hook for them. Just as Charlie Brown's best friend Linus illustrates, children find comfort in snuggling a blanket, especially one that's homemade with care and compassion. And kids who have been through an illness or another kind of traumatic experience are extra in need of comfort. So become a "Blanketeer" and work up this Easy and Elegant Crochet Blanket Pattern in any color for a grateful child today!

You can easily donate your crochet blankets by dropping them at one of Project Linus's local blanket drop-off sites. CLICK HERE to find the location nearest you! Then just swing by on your way to work or church or while running errands! Easy-peasy.

2. Binky Patrol

So Soft One Skein Security Blanket

Binky Patrol thinks that every child needs and deserves a binky: that special blanket they sleep with, snuggle with, and drag around with them everywhere they go. And this wonderful organization is dedicated to making that a reality. Binkies for all! You can donate to your local chapter, join in local events your chapter sponsors, or even start your own chapter! And if you have kids in your life, you can get them involved, too, because Binky Patrol provides numerous outlets for kids to help kids, whether that's through the Scouts or an event at their school or just crocheting along with you. Work up the So Soft One Skein Security Blanket to give the precious gift of a comforting binky to a child in need.

You can easily donate to Binky Patrol by dropping off your crochet binkies at a local chapter (click "Ways To Help" at the top of their website to find your local chapter) or by mailing them to the Binky Patrol Headquarters. CLICK HERE for the headquarters' 2 address options.

3. Camden's Comfort Project

Continuous Granny Square Afghan Pattern

Camden's Comfort Project is making a big difference in the lives of the little! This charitable organization donates blankets to babies in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in hospitals throughout Illinois. For all the good work they do, NICUs can be so sterile. And the parents of premies are often so beleaguered that they don't have time or energy or perhaps even money to search for a blanket to make their little love's surroundings feel more homey. Enter Camden's Comfort Project. The earnest and compassionate family behind this charity has personal experience with the NICU, and wanted to do something for other families of premies in the name of their little angel who they never got to take home.

So. Show your gratitude for the healthy kiddos in your life and follow this quick and easy and beautiful Continuous Granny Square Afghan Pattern to hook a blanket that's the perfect size for a premie. You'll help honor Camden's memory as you give a little color and comfort to parents and their precious newborns. CLICK HERE for the address where you can mail donations or you can email 
lauren@camdenscomfort.org
with any questions.

4. Blankets 4 Kids

Peaked Rainbow Shells Afghan

Blankets 4 Kids provides a service that "stands in the gap" for lower income families struggling to provide their children with basic needs of comfort and support. Each blanket is rolled and stuffed with a crochet hat, scarf, and stuffed animal, ensuring its recipient stays warm and feels emotionally supported. It's hard to turn hope into a physical thing, but these guys manage to do it! When a kid can snuggle a stuffed animal while wrapped in a handmade blanket by someone like you who cares, hope flourishes, so that child has a much better chance of flourishing, too. Try your hand at the super easy and super soft Peaked Rainbow Shells Afghan to help a child feel cared for and cozy.

This warm-hearted organization operates in Prescott, Arizona, but accepts donations from all over the U.S. Scroll to the bottom of the webpage for information on drop-box locations and an address where you can mail your donations.

5. Knit-a-Square

Autumn Rainbow Granny Square Pattern

Knit-a-Square is an international, worldwide charitable organization that collects donations of granny squares that a team of volunteers then knits into blankets for vulnerable children. If you're looking for a lightning fast way to make a difference in a child's life or you have a stack of granny squares looking for a blanket to call home or you just like crocheting granny squares, this organization is for you. Knit-a-Square operates out of South Africa where the volunteers sort and assemble 8" (20 cm) squares into blankets and distribute them to kids in need. This Autumn Rainbow Granny Square Pattern is a simple yet stunning design that's easy to hook and will help keep a kid warm and put a smile on her face!

CLICK HERE for the mailing address and helpful international postage mailing instructions (the U.S.-specific tips for mailing the squares are toward the bottom of the page). If you can't get to the post office in the foreseeable future, you can purchase Knit-a-Square branded merchandise or donate from your pocketbook to sponsor a distribution that would help provide other necessities - such as fresh fruit or school supplies or a toy - delivered to the child along with the blanket.

6. Warm Up America!

Easy Log Cabin Afghan Pattern

Warm Up America! is a Texas-based charitable foundation that donates blankets all over the country to people in need. They are always accepting baby, child, and adult-sized blankets, as well as 7" by 9" sections that they have a national team of volunteers sew together into afghans for distribution. You can also CLICK HERE for their more specific current needs. For example, as the people of Houston rebuild post-Hurricane Harvey, Warm Up America! is working with shelters and other relief organizations to provide afghans to families, many of whom lost everything to flooding. This wonderful organization also makes it really easy to get the kids in your life involved in charitable work, offering them opportunities to give back to their communities and appreciate all they have in their own lives.

Hook this goof-proof Easy Log Cabin Afghan Pattern and mail it to the Warm Up America! foundation headquarters to join this noble mission. You can find the address at the very bottom of their website homepage.

7. Soldiers' Angels

Pillow Soft Throw

Soldiers' Angels has the backs of our armed forces and their families, and it certainly makes sure those backs are warm. This organization donates blankets to our deployed servicewomen and servicemen, those recovering from injury or illness whether at home or in a hospital, as well as to veterans who often need the most comfort and support of all. Soldiers' Angels also gives blankets to the families of those serving and of fallen soldiers, for those left behind make sacrifices, too. So, make sure to include a note of gratitude with your blanket, expressing your thanks for the sacrifices these brave men and women make so that we can stay safe and warm beneath our own blankets in our own homes.

You can ship blankets directly to the Soldiers' Angels San Antonio, Texas headquarters (see the address at the bottom of the website homepage) or email
InKind@soldiersangels.org
to receive a specific address of a VA representative who will personally deliver your blanket to a veteran patient at a VA hospital in that area. NOTE: Twin-sized blankets are preferred as they fit most hospital beds and the cots of those deployed. Hook up this easy Pillow Soft Throw in any color scheme to show your support for a soldier or a soldier's family and to make wherever they are feel more like home.

"May no soldier go unloved † May no soldier walk alone † May no soldier be forgotten † Until they all come home." - Soldiers' Angels

8. The Snuggles Project

Crochet Doggy Blanket

The Snuggles Project is just as cute and snuggly as it sounds! This organization provides blankets to animal shelters around the country, helping to create a more homey feel for those dogs and cats who have yet to find an actual home. If you're an animal-lover, this charity is for you. And it's a perfect charity for beginner crocheters and kids because the "Snuggles" don't have to be perfect in order to be snuggled by a shelter dog or cat. This Crochet Doggy Blanket is the perfect pattern to work up into a Snuggle! And you can always change out the dog houses for a more cat-friendly design if you're hooking for a kitty.

The Snuggles Project is part of The Hugs Society, which is a worldwide directory for animal shelters. CLICK HERE to find the nearest participating shelter to you so you can drop off your "Snuggles" to an animal in need of some love. And, hey, while you're there, you might just find your new best friend!

You can also donate to the Keep Snuggling Fund that provides yarn and materials to nursing homes and other elder care facilities so that residents can participate in The Snuggles Project.

9. Homeless Shelter Directory

Quick and Thick Baby Blanket

The Homeless Shelter Directory allows you to look up homeless shelters by state so you can drop off a warm blanket to a shelter near you. All year round, homeless men, women, children, and whole families across the U.S. live and sleep outside. Especially during the freezing months, a blanket you give could actually save a life. And often it just takes a small nugget of hope to turn a life around. So hook up the cozy warm, beginner-friendly Quick and Thick Baby Blanket that you can easily expand to accommodate adults, too, and donate it to your local homeless shelter to give the gift of hope in blanket form.

10. Domestic Shelters

Setting Sun Patchwork Afghan

Domestic Shelters is a national directory of shelters and overall resource for women who have suffered abuse. These shelters house women and often their children so they can leave a dangerous situation and get the help they need to move forward into a peaceful and happy existence. Imagine the comfort and support a woman would feel wrapping a blanket around her and her daughter that they received from a kind and caring crochet angel. You can be that kind and caring crochet angel. CLICK HERE to find shelters near you that have wish lists so you can determine where you'd like to donate your blankets. The Setting Sun Patchwork Afghan is a great pattern because it's super warm, bright and colorful, and very beginner-friendly.

Where did you end up donating a blanket? Please share a photo of your contribution in the comments below!

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What a helpful page. I love the idea of donating my crochet projects but never sure how to go about it.

Ooh, thank you for compiling this list! I've been thinking this EXACT thing! I have three afghans just sitting in my trunk that I've been wanting to do something with and now I know what. Not to mention all my granny squares! Great resource!!

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