Halos of Hope Round 2
Thursday on the YarnThing Podcast with Marly Bird: Halos of Hope president Pam Haschke!
Pam is the Executive Director and Founder of Halos of Hope. She was diagnosed with Inflammatory Breast Cancer in June of 2004. Her treatment included chemotherapy, the most apparent side effect of which is hair-loss. Throughout her treatment, her favorite scarves and hats that provided her comfort from pain on her scalp were handmade. She decided that this was a great way to help other people dealing with the same feelings she had while undergoing chemotherapy. And that is how Halos of Hope started.
So if you haven’t heard of Halos of Hope before, they are a non profit corporation that gathers handmade hats that they distribute to cancer treatment centers across the United States. Halos of Hope uses 100% of individual monetary donations for the shipping and handling expenses for distributing the hats. The hats they distribute are made by handcrafters across the US and can be made anyway you know how: knit, crochet, or sewn. The only caveat is that they must be soft, so they don’t irritate already sensitive scalps.
This year has been pretty big for Halos of Hope. They ran a voting donation campaign called the Great BuZZ this year that culminated in shaving Drew Emborsky, the Crochet Dude; Mark Moraca, owner of Kollage Yarns! This campaign raised a total of $20,000!!! You can watch the video of the shaving on their website here. They also partnered with Purlescence Yarns and who hosted a 24-hour craft-a-thon which produced over 215 hats that were donated to Camp Happy Times. Listen in below to hear all about the other things Halos of Hope has been up to in the last year, including the Podcast Throwdown and Drew Emborski’s 2013 Chemo Cap Challenge!
Be sure to check out their Stories of Hope, to read about all the great stories connected to hats and Halos of Hope. You will be inspired by these amazing stories. And also participate in Stripe it Up January, use up those little bits of leftover yarn in your stash to make a hat and send it in.
You can find Halos of Hope on: their website, Facebook, and Twitter and the Podcast Throwdown on Ravelry.
Let’s give some love to our sponsors!
XRX Books, Knitter’s Magazine, STITCHES Expos
Indian Lake Artisans
Fiesta Yarns
Drew Emborsky
Love of Knitting and Love of Crochet
Bijou Basin Ranch
Pam is such a fun guest! I had a great time listening to you two. After hearing the Stitches throw-down challenges. I’m a little worried about Stitches Midwest 2014. Eeep!
I’m a part of the Yarn on Tap/Sockahaulics Team. After losing two sisters/knitters to cancer in the same year, it is a worthy cause to support. Marly said people may be holding back. It isn’t holding back, buut why send just one or two hats. I have 4 already, and didn’t want to mail them one at a time. I should have them plus I hope one or two more before the end of the year, plus a matching donation.