Glance Back, but Move Ahead
by Valerie Zalewski
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For this first edition of KAS Snippets 2016, I wish to welcome you all to another year of "snippets", all the little bits of news and anecdotes that make KAS the warm friendly place that it is.
We would like to include a "Guest" article each month. Guidelines can be found [here] and we hope that you will feel free to submit something for inclusion in KAS Snippets.
I feel a little like the ghosts of past, present, and future rolled into one. As most of you know, KAS was started in 2009 by Ronda and her family, the idea being to knit squares that could be made into blankets to provide warmth and comfort to the very many orphaned and vulnerable children in South Africa.
These were the very first 2 parcels that Ronda received in 2009.
It is said that from small acorns grow great oak trees. We can attest to the fact that from 2 small parcels a very large number of blankets have grown.
In 2015 we received a total of 207,990 squares from all over the world. This means 5942 children are being kept warm with a KAS blanket.
We also welcomed many new members to the Square Circle Forum, bringing our membership up to 4243 industrious crafters.
As with any community, there were both ups and downs. The ups consisted of the phenominal number of squares and all the new members.
The downs were due in part to the problems within the South African postal system, leading to the temporary shutting down of the Bryanston Post Office. We hope that there will not be too many problems of this kind in the future.
Other less positive points come from the overload of work for the SA volunteers. A heavy increase in the number of squares arriving means much more work for Ronda and her team, opening parcels and often having to fight with the tangled jumble of un-butterflied tails. Then, of course, there's the additional problem of finding space enough to stock the squares and then the finished blankets until Distribution Day, finding funds to pay rent on such a space once found, and paying a small amount to the "Gogos" who help in sewing together the blankets.
This brings us to the present situation. After using her house as the storage space for KAS for several years, Ronda finally managed to liberate her home. Since then she has had to move several times before finding an ideal locale on the ground floor with easy access for bringing in the large van-load of parcels, adequate space for working easily, and room for storing blankets and other items.
To face the problem of funding, the KAS Shop has been given a complete face-lift. Thanks to the hard work of Andrea Palmatier and several members of the Mods group, we now have a very modern, cheerful shop. It makes shopping there a real pleasure. There are items for EVERY budget, even the smallest.
By shopping in the KAS Shop we can help to provide snacks for the children on Distribution days, put fuel in the KASmobile, pay the Gogos for the blankets they sew, and contribute to the different items that KAS badly needs to help our children.
It can also be a way for non-knitting friends and family to be an active part of the KAS family.
To move on to the future, we must consider how to help Ronda and her team of volunteers continue to use the enthusiasm of KAS members efficiently. Over the years more and more items are coming in that are not directly related to the blankets. While most of these items are very useful, they can't always be easily treated, stored and distributed. It is felt that we must move on to concentrating on those items that can be dealt with the most efficiently. A Wish List for 2016 has been published on the forum and you can find it [here]. Basically the most needed items are the squares, hats (preferably in a ribbed or similar pattern so that it will "grow" with the child's head), hand-warmers and soft toys.
To prevent overcrowding with storage, items such as go-overs, cuddles and sweaters or vests will be passed on to other organisations, such as Hotel Hope or Mama Ntombe's Community Project who can more easily distribute them. But be assured that they will all be used to help as many children as possible, although you may not see such items in the photos of KAS Distribution Days.
To alleviate the problem of finding enough willing hands to sew the squares into blankets, completed blankets can now be sent to Ronda, but it is important that the parcels still be labelled "Knitted Squares" and "No Commercial Value". The blankets should be the same size as our usual 35-square blankets. This size has been calculated to provide a blanket that will be useful to a child as he/she grows.
A convenient packing slip and label can be found [here].
Squares that are sent must be correctly "butterflied" so that precious time isn't spent in disentangling loose tails.
Instructions for butterflying can be found [here].
I wish all of you a wonderful year 2016 and thank you for every minute of the time you spend making KAS the best place to be for providing the love, warmth and comfort that the children need.
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