Life 2 Orphans Brings new Life to Ukrainian Orphanages
Among their many projects to help children in need, Life 2 Orphans has set out to knit a hat for every orphan in Ukraine!
Life 2 Orphans works with some of the neediest children in the world: those trapped in orphanages in Ukraine. The statistics are frightening: within a year of leaving the orphanage, 15% of Ukrainian orphans commit suicide. Those who don't usually move on to jail. But Life 2 Orphans aims to change all that through gifts of love and hope!
Knowing Someone Cares!
Life 2 Orphans has many projects on the go and will happily accept donations of food, clothing, money, or furniture. However, one of their most successful projects has been the Hat Project, which aims to provide a handmade hat to every one of Ukraine's 60,000 orphans!
The Life 2 Orphans website tracks their progress toward this goal. You can see how many hats are completed (4,508 as of February -- so they need many more to reach 60,000!), which orphanages receive the hats, and how many hats each orphanage still needs.
Each orphanage has its own section on the site. You can browse the orphanage's special needs, see what size hats they require, and just learn about the lives of these special children half a world away!
A Simple Project, A Huge Difference
Life 2 Orphans has many volunteers. You can see some of their inspirational contributions to the Hat Project on the Life 2 Orphans website. The entire project got its start with a grandmother named Lilla Fields, who wanted to put her love of knitting and crocheting to use.
Life 2 Orphans lists every person who contributes to the Hat Project on their website -- including Vicki "Nana" Knutson, who has personally crocheted over 150 hats for Ukrainian orphans!
Getting Going
Life 2 Orphans provides clear, easy-to-follow instructions for making hats, but if you plan to make a lot, you might want to search out some other patterns just for variety's sake! The hat they describe calls for circular needles and isn't nearly as complicated as you might think. If you've always shied away from knitting "in the round," this might be a great place to start!
And if hats just sound too intimidating, start smaller -- Life 2 Orphans also accepts a wide variety of other knitted items, including scarves, sweaters, and mittens. All information is provided on the Life 2 Orphans website, but it can be a little tricky to find. From the main Life 2 Orphans site, skim down to "How Can I Help?" and click on "The Hat Project." You can start bringing Life 2 Orphans today!