WEEK TWO - 5th ANNIVERSARY MONTH

Our history and story of the first five years of The Pink Slipper Project continues.

In 2010, I joined AC4C (All Crafts 4 Charity) on Yahoo. The "List Mom" of AC4C prepares an annual calendar with one or two charities listed per month. I contacted her and asked if The Pink Slipper Project could be on the 2011 calendar. PSP was added and, in the spirit of AC4C, their members responded with over 400 pairs of slippers (PSP wasn't doing washcloths then). Everything was sent to Joyce and she sent them to shelters. Once each year since then, the members of AC4C have sent hundreds of pairs of slippers to us. There have been many shelters that received not only slippers, but everything that AC4C sent us, including hats, toys, baby hats, baby sweaters, scarves, and baby blankets.

Several weeks ago, I took a trunk load of AC4C goodies to a shelter near me. They were delighted with what I had brought and wanted everything! During the last few years, we also received washcloths and lots of soap. I still have a great many slippers, washcloths, hats and baby clothes that will be distributed in the next few months.

On August 18, 2011, PSP celebrated its’ 2nd birthday and, by September, had 2,300 friends. It was during 2011 that Joyce had her first spinal surgery. The Pink Slipper Project Signature Knit Slipper was published in 2010.

Revisiting the 2011 Facebook posts has been like a trip down memory lane. Joyce loved to put up pictures of all the slippers that arrived in her studio. I’ve seen the pictures and read the names of so many people. There are members who joined early and are still participating in our challenges or are still following our journey.

Joyce posted a lot of challenges during 2011. She “visited” Iowa, held a local Stitch-A-Thon with a group in New Orleans, “visited” the Hope Coalition in Red Wing, MN, and, in conjunction with the Compassion Fashion Project, warmed toes and hearts in seven shelters in Arkansas with our slippers!

In February, 2011, Joyce posted her “Hospital Doll”. The pattern for the cloth doll is here on the blog.  The Pink Slipper Signature Crochet Slipper designed by Judy Warehime was published in March, 2011.

In April of that year, the “Knit Teddy Bear”, designed by our friend, Carol Levesque, made its debut. Carol’s teddy has warmed so many hearts and made many friends as they were distributed to the children in our shelters. Carol has given this pattern to Pink Slipper and it is also listed on our blog.

You will notice that from time to time I refer to the shelters that have received slippers from us as “our shelters”. We send our love and, I believe, a piece of ourselves via our handmade slippers and washcloths…..and so, we call the shelters “ours”.

Next Monday, the story continues. Stay tuned.

Rachel