Some interesting and discouraging links

http://www.livejournal.com/users/naomikritzer/61552.html

A partial list of all the screwups in aid offered but rejected since Katrina.

Another link - but a nice one this time.

http://www.easternuswx.com/bb/index.php?showtopic=49597

Some stories of people who sacrificed themselve to help others in more dire straits than they were in.

I've had an idea.

There are and have always been crafting organizations that donated their works to charities. Nineteenth-century church women's socials would make a quilt collectively and send it to the missions field on a regular basis. I know of at least two organizations that accept crocheted blankets for women's shelters.

I want to do something like that.

I'm thinking many knitters and crocheters have scrap yarn lying around. What if we each committed to making one granny square a week for the next year? The average twin-sized blanket would be about twenty-four squares - half a year's work for one person, a month or so for four people, etc.

So here's the idea. Each crocheter or knitter makes one square a week, measuring 4"x4". For me, that's about half an hour's work, probably. Each person who contributes four squares also contributes a bit of money - a buck or two - for the yarn that will be used to join them into a blanket. Then one person takes all twenty-four squares and crochets them together. We send them to hurricane victims. I'm considering starting with those being lodged in Jonesboro, Arkansas, with hillarygayle. I'm sure kathrynrose could also suggest a destination. Even better would be if people who are closer to the affected areas could find an organization that could take our donated squares and stitch them together down there.

Well? Whaddya think? Who's in?