charitable dishcloths

Dishcloths are a great gift for pretty much anyone with a kitchen - and every home, no matter how small, has one. 

Regardless of your cooking or baking skills, we all spend varying amounts of time preparing food in our homes, and our kitchens inevitably need cleaning. Needless to say, dishcloths come in handy for this reason.

In my many years of knitting & crocheting, I've found myself with extra yarn, and extra time with no one in particular to knit for. This is when knitting for charity comes to play; there are a surprising number of charities that collect knitted & crocheted items for those in need. The biggest demand, in my experience, has been for items made of wool, like sweaters, mittens, and hats - which go to people living in cold climates with limited resources.

It got me thinking, if there was a need for dishcloths. A dishcloth isn't going to protect you from the elements, but there are people in need who rely on food banks when they can't afford groceries. 

This past week, I did a bit of research of food banks around where I live. The ones in my own city (Mississauga, Ontario, Canada) provide 7-10 days worth of food. Some neighboring cities & towns that either DH or I frequent because of family or work, those food banks provide 3 days' or up to a weeks' worth of food as well. These food banks not only provide food, but other household items as well, like toilet paper and cleaning supplies. That being said, it doesn't hurt to ask if I could provide knitted dishcloths. A few emails have been sent.

I got a very good positive response already from a few food banks that I've contacted, so I proposed the idea in the charity knitting group on ravelry last week. Positive response, which motivated me to start a dishcloth charity group. It'll be a work in progress for a while, with a few KAL's and CAL's on the go already, but I'm hopeful that I'll be able to get some help in creating a few bundles of dishcloths to donate. I've tentatively made a deadline for the end of May, 4 months away, so we'll see how many bundles I can have made by then!