Project Night Night founder Kendra Robins; giving homeless children something to call their own!
According to the National Center on Family Homelessness, one out of every 50, or approximately 1.5 million, American children go to sleep without a home of their own each year.
Numbers like this are what drive Kendra Robins who has come to understand what it means to children to have the security of familiarity in their lives, especially at night.
"Putting your child to bed is one of the most critical parts of his or her day," says Kendra. She came to this realization while traveling with her then two-year-old son Cole, who needed to be surrounded by his own "things" to sleep soundly and feel safe.
Basic bedtime comfort, or even a simple stuffed animal are not always possible for homeless children. Most often, the homeless flee leaving with only what they are wearing or just a small suitcase holding a few worldly possessions. "Every child deserves to have a security blanket to snuggle, a stuffed animal to squeeze, and a book to look at before drifting off to sleep."
Kendra began Project Night Night in 2005 as a grass roots community outreach. The organization distributes Night Night Packages, free of charge, to children from birth to pre-teen who are in homeless shelters. Each package contains a new security blanket, an age-appropriate children's book and a stuffed animal, all nestled inside a canvas tote bag.
Since its inception, Project Night Night has given out over 100,000 Night Night Packages and has grown into an award-winning national program thanks to the generosity of some major corporate and foundation sponsors like The Safeway Foundation, which gave the organization its first grant, and Starbucks, where a number of locations host collection boxes.
"We are now the largest provider of nighttime comforts for homeless children in the country," says Kendra, who in 2009 was honored as one of People magazines and Major League Baseball's All Stars Among Us. She was one of 30 "Everyday All-Stars" who went above and beyond to serve her community. To receive this honor, she attended MLB All-Star game on behalf of San Francisco, placing her organization in the national spotlight.
Getting involved is simple. Project Night Night accepts product donations of new blankets, new or like new books and new or like new stuffed animals. The need for blankets is the greatest. "The first handmade blanket we received was from a Girl Scout troop who all worked together to make it. We love, love, love to receive handmade blankets." You can also Adopt a Night Night Package in which you commit to filling a certain number of tote bags. Or, you can sponsor a Night Night Package. 
"Our single focus is to distribute as many Night Night Packages as possible. The stories from the homeless families are unbelievable. The road from comfortable home to homeless is often short and unexpected. The need continues to grow."
Most often, the Night Night Package becomes more than a bedtime companion. The blanket may double as refuge from the cold when the child is on the street or in a car. The stuffed animal becomes a "person" to whom the child tells its deepest troubles. The book may be the only one they own since moving from shelter to shelter impacts a homeless child's ability to attend school and/or learn.
Demand for Night Night packages has increased by 37% while donations have decreased by a similar amount. Today's economic challenges have caused families to tighten their purse strings, while Project Night Night now has a waiting list of children for the first time since its inception.
While Kendra did learn to knit and crochet as a child, her hours are now spent making certain your donations get to those in need. "Homelessness can happen to anyone. I am reminded constantly of how fortunate I am, and Project Night Night helps me to not take that fact for granted."
To read more about how to donate a warm blanket to Project Night Night, click here.
Weaving a life's tale to support, encourage and educate women about Heart Disease.
Currently, 41 million women are living with or are at risk for heart disease. Staggering numbers for a disease so often associated with men. Heart disease is an equal opportunity issue, knowing no boundaries of race, creed, sex or wealth. More women than men die from the disease each year, surpassing the number of women who die from all cancers.
So what's a woman to do? According to Marilyn Deak, why not knit, crochet or weave? Granted there are intrinsic values to crafting and your health, but Marilyn literally wants you to get crafty and make red scarves to support, encourage and care for a sisterhood of those living their lives with this silent killer.
"Women with heart disease share a sense of isolation and fear. The handmade red scarf is a tangible symbol of connectedness, expressing the care and support of others for all women experiencing the stresses of heart disease," said Marilyn.
Living with heart disease herself, Marilyn is one of the founders of the national HeartScarves program of WomenHeart: The National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease. The program delivers handmade, red scarves to members of the WomenHeart Support Networks, and to women undergoing cardiac procedures. She also knits, crochets and weaves. Marilyn has found her journey with heart disease, much like her weaving, has given her determination to reach out to support and educate others through the love of a handmade gift.
"Weaving projects take a great deal of time, thought and work with the outcome always in doubt," said Marilyn. "When I take a project off the loom and it has come out the way I wanted, it's a great feeling. If the project is not what I envisioned and planned for, I know there is more to learn. It's very similar to my experience with heart disease. When I'm functioning well, I'm really pleased. When I'm confronted with mounting health problems, it's back to the doctors, and doing medical research on how to feel better."
Marilyn's journey as a survivor of heart disease and a champion of the HeartScarves program mirrors her love of fiber arts and weaving. She believes the key to a heart healthy life is education. Starting HeartScarves was similar to her creating her own fabric on the loom.
The HeartScarves goal was to give handmade red scarves to every woman with heart disease with whom they came into contact. Marilyn approached her weaving guild, Palomar Handweavers' from Escondido, CA, to make red scarves. The guild got behind the program right away, connecting Marilyn to women who donated scarves and who supported the project. Things were going well and there was much excitement.
It became clear, early on, the project was taking on a life of its own and its underlying mission fit well with the WomenHeart organization. With the support of her guild, other WomenHeart friends and a belief that the sky is the limit, Marilyn and company petitioned the WomenHeart organization to take this message of heart education, hope and encouragement nationally. 
"At the time the project was starting, my grandkids loved the movie Toy Story and the character who says ‘To infinity and beyond,'" said Marilyn. "The support of the handweavers and those whose lives we had already touched allowed us to believe this little saying and propel us into the stratosphere without any limits. The HeartScarves message proved so important to so many women."
Much like her work on the loom, there are always lessons for women about heart disease, whether it is an awareness of the symptoms of heart disease, how to live a healthier lifestyle and/or even how to continue living once diagnosed, education is the key.
"Each scarf represents a hug to a woman with heart disease, as well as giving us the opportunity to provide information to others who may be able to prevent illness through our efforts," said Marilyn.
Central to the effort is the word handmade; giving each scarf a "heart" or that personal touch which says to its recipient someone took time to create this especially for you. The message of warmth and hope sustains Marilyn who credits the HeartScarves program for giving her more then she can define.
According to Marilyn, there are unexpected gifts from all aspects of life, if you look for them. With weaving, there have been gifts like learning about the history of weaving that goes back to the beginning of human history, and how weaving can vary in different parts of the world.
"I'm not happy to have heart disease, but through my involvement with HeartScarves, and WomenHeart, I've met wonderful women across the country, I've been able to give comfort to women I otherwise would not have met and I get to see spectacular scarves and often can talk to the crafts person and find out how they made the scarf."
Red Heart Yarns and WomenHeart: The National Coalition for Women with heart disease have joined forces to create the HeartScarves Project Kit featuring everything you need to knit or crochet a red scarf. HeartScarves provides handmade red scarves to members of our WomenHeart Support Networks, and to women undergoing cardiac procedures. The red scarves offer comfort, support, and encouragement for a woman with heart disease and become a part of her healing journey.