Donation Day 2014!

     As you all know, Crafts for Cause has an annual Donation Day every year where we donate items made by people in the community to organizations in the community. Wrap your mind around that one. This year, I am proud to say, we were able to donate to several different places. Northern Transitions, Community Action, Soo Housing, and Lutheran Child and Family Service of Michigan all recieved a decent donation from Crafts for Cause.

    All of the ladies in this group put A LOT of time and effort into crocheting beautiful items in an effort to cheer people up and keep them warm. We were also able to purchase a lot of hats and mittens with the leftover proceeds from one of our bake sales.

Here are some photos of this year's donations! It's never too early to start making items for next year!

United Way Chili Cook Off!

     This year, Crafts for Cause was given the amazing opportunity to bake for United Way of the Eastern Upper Peninsula's Annual Chili Cook Off. We were the very first group that held a bake sale at the event. I guess dessert is always a good idea after a lot of chili sampling. 

     All our bakers did such a wonderful job. We were able to help United Way raise $220.00 to use in our community. Every year, United Way has the cook off in the gym at Lake Superior State University. There, local businesses cook up unique pots of chili and decorate their booths to stand out against their competitors. At the end of the night, everyone votes on the best chilies and teams are awarded. I was obviously partial to War Memorial Hospital's chili because I work there. There is live music, lots of people, and great food. It was a perfect way to heat up in the freezing cold Sault Ste. Marie temperatures. 

I hope next year United Way asks all of us at Crafts for Cause to bake again. Here are some photos from the event!

Thanks again to everyone who donated their time and effort to the bake sale!

Valentine's Day Bake Sale Success!

Exciting news, Crafts for Cause had it's very first bake sale on February 1st, 2014. This particular bake sale was to raise money to buy blankets for our local homeless centers. We managed to raise way more money than our intended goal.

The very first monetary donation ever!

We had our bake sale at Glen's Market during the annual I-500 snow mobile race, so I think that had a major impact in our success. Also, our group has some very dedicated members, who were willing to brave the cold for 6 hours and peddle the goodies. Thank you so much to Tim from Glen's Market for letting us use their space for free. Glen's is a great place to shop and also a great place to have a bake sale, as ours is living proof!

Thank you Kayla for coming up with our logo (TBA).
 Here is a Valentine's Day spin on our logo.

Melissa, Kayla and I spent the two days before baking and prepping. Luckily, we had about 6 or 7 more people who were willing to make and donate baked goods to such an important cause.

Tasty Little Cakes donated some vanilla cupcakes.

 Shawnna, another talented local baker donated these delicious sugar cookies.

Another close friend, and local photographer who owns MBphotography, offered to take photos of our goodies and make an internet advertisement. Mary, thank you so much for your time and effort!

And here is our table at the end of the day! 

My friend Melissa's family also donated a large portion of our baked goods. They filled our table with chocolate chip cookies, mini breads, and cherry chip cupcakes (my personal favorite). Her mother in law donated some loaves of zucchini walnut bread which disappeared very quickly. Thanks so much for all your time and effort.

This bake sale was definitely worth any stress that was involved. We are very excited to talk to our local homeless centers and find out what blankets we can purchase and donate to them.

None of this could have happened without the help and dedication of all the people involved. Crafts for Cause is only as good as the people who choose to contribute, and we are thankful for such a loving community. I don't think I can say that enough.

If you like to knit, crochet, or have another hobby and you would like to use your talents some time in the future for a great local group please check out our Contact page!

Just the Beginning

So. It's been a rough few months for me.
And I've found the best thing to get through a rough patch in life (aside from wine) is to stay busy.
The main way I have wanted to stay busy, as always, is through creating and crocheting.

And so "Crafts for Cause" was born, the little brainchild of a sad time.

My friends and I are always looking for a way to give back to our little community. So we started asking around as to who can benefit from handmade items. Originally, we wanted to start donating items as Christmas gifts for people in adult foster homes but it morphed into making items for use in our local shelters, Safe Haven and the Diane Peppler Resource Center. Hats, gloves and scarves oh my!

It's amazing how fast "Crafts for Cause" caught on once the group profile on Facebook was set up. In only a months time, we were able to get together a substantial donation. Right now we plan on doing one massive donation once a year, the second week of December, but who knows what the future will hold. Our goal for next year is to bring in even more donators and also to donate to more places. Bruce Beaudoin, who works with Safe Haven, has all sorts of ideas. It's great to work with some one so passionate about helping people in the local community, and he is dedicated to getting our items to the appropriate people. Not only do we have the option to donate handmade items, we also have the ability to sell our items and buy blankets and pillows, which the local shelters are in desperate need of.  My friend Melissa and I had so much fun looking through all the donated handmade items. It's remarkable the talent that people have, and the time they are willing to donate to our cause.

I don't think people realize how fast life can throw curve balls at you. One minute, you are riding along smoothly through life, and the next you're stuck in some ditch with no one to drag you out. We've all been there, in some way, emotionally, physically, spiritually or financially. "Crafts for Cause" is just one very small way to help people who are in a rut, it may not bring people out of it, but at least our items will keep them warm in the process.

These pictures are from our very first donation day, which was on Wednesday, December the 18th, 2013. If you live in the Sault Ste. Marie area and are interested in making a craft donation to "Crafts for Cause" please join our Facebook group for any updates and information. 


Thank for your interest in our group. Our community has been very generous in donating their time and efforts. Without them, this would not be possible.