handwritten notes and letters, have been subse-
quently linked to helping to boost morale.
Downloadable, printable Handmade with Love
tags are available at Operation Gratitude’s website.
Crafters are encouraged to attach a handwritten
note to each hat or scarf they make that includes
their name and an email address. Operation
Gratitude can’t guarantee that donors will get a
reply, but it can guarantee they won’t if they don’t
attach a note.Through the benevolence of yarn
crafters, Operation Gratitude received 70,000
knitted and crocheted hats and scarves last year.
Operation Gratitude hopes to double that number
this year. Yarn crafters can utilize their favorite
patterns and creativity in the creation of hats and
scarves. Operation Gratitude does not require a
specifi c or uniform pattern. It does, however, off er
several patterns on its website. In order to fi t
within the size parameters of the Operation
Gratitude care packages, scarves should be about
4–6" wide and 48–50" long.
Th e Handmade with Love program requests
that items be made from soft worsted-weight
yarns in muted colors such as blacks, browns,
grays, dark greens, dark blues, plums, and reds.
Th e color red is extremely signifi cant to Operation
Gratitude, for the acronym RED stands for
Remember Everyone Deployed. During Military
Appreciation Month, held every May, people
throughout the nation wear red on Fridays to
honor our men and women in uniform. Last May,
Operation Gratitude issued a 16-day Red Scarf
Challenge. Th is call to action yielded a total of 3,300
red scarves, created May 3–18. Th e person who
created the most made 70. Scarves were subse-
quently included in outgoing care packages
throughout June.
Th e Red Scarf Challenge is long over, but
Operation Gratitude is still in need of Handmade
with Love items. If you are interested in
contributing your time and talents to this 501(c)(3)
organization, visit Operation Gratitude’s website,
http://www.operationgratitude.com. For specifi c
information regarding the Handmade with
Love branch of Operation Gratitude, go to
http://www.operationgratitude.com/express-your
-thanks/handmade-with-love.
If you have a family member or friend who is
serving, you can request an Operation Gratitude
care package for them at http://www.operationgratitude
.com/request-package. OPERATION GRATITUDE FAST FACTS
- 94 cents of every donated dollar goes to program
services; only 3% of donated funds are spent on
fund-raising. - More than 2.3 million care packages have been
assembled and shipped since 2003. - Four-star rating on Charity Navigator and Platinum-
level rating on Guidestar. - More than 791,000 volunteers from all over the
nation in 2018.
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