She contacted me out of the blue back in August. I had been having a bad day with Share A Square, and was feeling a little discouraged. I wrote about it on the blog. Deborah e-mailed me to tell me:

Turns out, she wasn’t talking about the voices in my head; she meant it. She was with me all the way. I called her and we talked for an hour (fortunately I have roll over minutes on my cell phone). Y’all have heard people say, “There’s nothing new under the sun.” Well, when I started Share A Square, I thought it was a new idea. Good thing I didn’t research it on the internet, because there are tons of charity projects that use crocheted squares and rectangles. I might have just joined in on one of those (and I’d have a guest room right now).

Deborah is involved in a project that uses crocheted rectangles. It’s called The Handmade Afghan Project, or HAP, and Deborah has been running this from her home in Maryland since December 2004. I can’t imagine the dedication it takes to carry this on for so long. This project uses 6 x 9 rectangles, (49 for each afghan)crocheted by volunteers, to make afghans that will fit on a hospital bed. Volunteers work to lay out the afghan squares and put them together at “events” held in Maryland. Tons of people turn out to help put together these afghans for our wounded soldiers.

Why in the world would Deborah commit to a project like that?

“Having spent some time in the hospital as a child, I know they can be cold and lonely and since I knit and crochet I also know that afghans can warm the body and soul,” she said. “It seemed a natural combination to start making handmade afghans for those wounded in service to our country.”

So, this is what her house looks like:

And, that’s a heck of a lot neater than mine!

Look at these afghans! Aren’t they beautiful?

You can see many more of the afghans made by these volunteers at http://www.rectangle6×9.shutterfly.com/ As of the middle of this month, the volunteers had produced 899 afghans to send to Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D.D. or to Bagram Airfield Hospital in Afghanistan.

Deborah recently sent out an e-mail to tell about the “community” of volunteers:

The Handmade Afghans to Thank Our Armed Forces Project has become a community of our own with over 400 people involved.

• We range in age from 8 to at least 93 years old
• We are female and male
• We include multiple members of many families
• We cover most religions, political parties and ethnicities
• We have people who crochet, knit, quilt, sew
• and some that do none of these
• We live in 41 states, Washington D.C. and four countries other than the US

Deborah has told me all about the project over the last several months. This busy woman has also been contributing to Share A Square!! She has sent squares and put together afghans. Talk about a giving heart, Deborah has one, for sure.

Why am I telling you about HAP, when I have a project of my own? Well, ladies and gentlemen, I have all the squares we need to complete our afghans (unless another one of them goes AWOL). Many of the Share A Square volunteers still want to contribute, but don’t want to rim squares or make a full afghan. THIS is a project that can use your support. They have “Put Together Events” scheduled for February 3 and April 6.

So, pull out your acrylic yarn and get those crochet hooks flashing. FIRST, visit the website and see how to sign up. They will give you all the information you need and give you instructions for making the rectangles. They have a message board, and send regular updates.

Deborah says, “Each of your rectangles is sending a message of hope and thankfulness.” Sounds good to me.

I’m sending mine:

How about you?

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