Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Faith in humanity....

....some has been restored.

You know, it's rarely the stuff that makes the news that does it. Generally, the news is full of stuff that makes me shake my head in dismay and want to pick up a lantern, get a dog named Rataplan, and go off on some kind of fruitless quest.

But there are people out there, who are decent people, who do kind things. Who see a problem they can solve, and instead of saying, "Someone needs to fix that" they say, "I can help fix that."

I get a bunch of the e-mail newsletters from Interweave. Mostly I delete them unread unless the title grabs my attention. Well, today's Spinning Daily one did: The Nature of Our Community.

Long story short: Spinning teacher is at a retreat. Worries about a possible tsunami (she lives in Washington State, on the coast). Gets home safe, except the studio where she worked has had a major fire. No one is hurt, but tools - including spinning wheels and looms used by students, some (apparently) belonging to students were destroyed, along with the teacher's book (sob) and textile (double sob) collection.

So they're organizing a fundraiser to help rebuild and replace what can be replaced. And for a while, some of the proceeds from the teacher's dvds, bought through Interweave, will go to the cause.

Knitters, spinners, weavers, crocheters, and quilters tend to be generous people. (I am sure there are other hobbyist/specialist groups that are similar, but it's mostly fiber-people I've interacted with in this way). They take care of their own, when their own need it, and they also take care of others - I know groups on Ravelry have done fund-raisers to help out after the Haiti earthquake and the Japan earthquake and tsunami, and they are currently doing things to help out with recovery from Sandy.

(And I will note: Are there cases where people get taken, or where the money doesn't go where it's supposed to? I suppose it does. I know there are ways to try to guard against that....but I try not to let my concerns about that limit my giving, in the hopes that things ARE managed well and that the people asking for help genuinely do need it.)

2 comments:

Mary C. said...

Love to hear what you are reading. I am just finishing Excellence of a Hedgehog and I am thinking that you might like it - altho it took me awhile and it is close to the end, I am really enjoying it and plan to see the movie next.

CGHill said...

There have been a few examples of crowdsourced charity being skimmed off by fraudsters, but from what I've seen -- and what I've helped finance -- it's only a few.