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HUMANITY HANDSPUN is an idea born of the tragedy in Haiti. Haiti is a small island nation on Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, north of Venezuela, east of Jamaica and south of Cuba. It is commonly thought to be the only Third World Nation in the Northern Hemisphere and suffers staggering poverty, malnutrition and starvation. It has an 80% unemployment rate. On January 12, 2010 Haiti suffered a devastating earthquake with severe consequences; there were an estimated 200,000 dead, extensive injuries to the living, in addition to a complete lack of water and food to many people across the country.
Humanity Handspun will help to raise badly needed funds to assist in the ongoing medical needs of the people of Haiti as well as other broad human tragedies such as Darfur in Sudan, the Tsunami in South East Asia and the flooding of New Orleans. Funds raised will be donated to the situation of most immediate need. As of January 2010 funds will go to Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and to the UN World Food Programme who have each operated in Haiti for over 15 years, meaning that the funds will go to established, functional charities on the ground in Haiti.
Who are you? My name is Tina Whitmore and I'm the founder and lead designer for Knitwhits, a knitting pattern and kit company established in California in 2003. I've had a love affair with fiber all my life and recently have developed an addiction to spinning. Spinning allows me to enjoy fiber outside of my "real" fiber-related job. Once I started spinning I needed to find a home for my handspun yarns. This also sadly coincided with the Haitian earthquake. I saw a way that I could make my spinning more productive than just the process; by using it to raise funds it immediately becomes so much more than yarn, in many ways, to many people. My grandmother worked tirelessly for the St. John's Ambulance for as long as I can remember, and she always drilled into us how important it was to be useful. HumanityHandspun brings together my love of fiber, my retailing background, my desire to help others in need and my wish to be useful all under one umbrella.
To learn more about our spinners, visit this page. |
