Celebrate a charity knitting hero

Veronica La Du

So, to all of those people in Africa who are sewing together the blankets, expect a whole box load or more of squares to come your way soon!

Veronica's mother wrote on February 22 2009:

I am the MOM of an avid knitter, Veronica, age 12. She has been knitting since she was 8. We donate a portion of the proceeds of her sales to Animal Rights organizations and would like to expand our charitable contributions. We love your organization and are in the process of alerting our church groups to help with this endeavor.

It was so inspiring to think of one so young already immersed in the act of giving, I wrote back and asked if we could feature Veronica on the site to illustrate how empowering the act of giving for a young person can be.

Better than that Veronica wrote this letter:

To: Sandy of Knit-A-Square
From: Veronica

Hi! My name is Veronica. I am 12 years old and I have been knitting since I was 8. I now have my own little knitting business. I donate a portion of the profits to the SPCA. We have 3 cats, all were homeless. Some of the things I knit are: cat toys, scarves, bags, hats, bracelets and more recently, 8” x 8” squares.

I first learned about the Knit-A-Square project from my mother. She had gotten an email from Lion Brand Yarn and thought that she would check the website out. Knowing how much I love to knit and help out, she showed it to me and now I have my church and my school involved.

We made a flyer where we put a couple of options for people who want to donate. For people who can knit or crochet, we asked for 8” x 8” squares. For people who can’t knit or crochet, we asked for yarn to knit with or gently-used blankets or sweaters that we could felt. After we felt them, we would cut them into the 8” squares.

I really hope that I can make a difference to the many children in need. So, to all of those people in Africa who are sewing together the blankets, expect a whole box load or more of squares to come your way soon!

Sincerely,
Veronica

It is wonderful to read of one so young, so actively involved in charitable work. But what is so special about this letter is that Veronica has thought beyond just knit-a-square's request to knit or crochet a square. She has considered how to involve people who do not knit or crochet.

No better illustrated then by her most recent letter offering to use the $100 she has raised for knit-a-square.com. She and her grandma " have single-handedly made a blanket and a half and more people are knitting/crocheting squares.

We are all privileged to have someone so young, like Veronica, thinking, working and acting on behalf of the children we seek to help.

Please make sure that you join Square Circle for more stories of our heroes and their efforts to help keep the children warm.