Happy Easter

May your Easter be filled with hope, love, and laughter surrounded by family and friends.

A Special Delivery: Love In Action

In honor of his auntie, my son took in 19 adult hats for chemo warriors to the Oncology Unit that Wanda would get her chemotherapy during her battle with Pancreatic Cancer.

Wanda passed on 12/27 five years ago, but it seems like yesterday.  It’s always a difficult day around here, and as we fought the tears back, we decided to push through, be strong and do things that she loved.  One of the things Wanda loved to do, was bringing in hats for chemo warriors.  I had just started learning how to loom knit and the hats I made were unquestionably “unique”, but Wanda would always be so kind and encouraging.  And the PR piece was almost always her– I was embarrassed – even with this blog as it sometimes seemed like we were bragging or tooting our own horn.  But she would ask- how can you raise awareness or make changes if nobody knows?  In her kind, patient but firm nature, Wanda pushed me to improve my hat making skills and to grow Knitting Rays of Hope.

Bryan took in chemo hats for adult chemo warriors at Kaiser in Ontario.

And with this last delivery for 2017, we are proud to say we have delivered 6,118 hats to chemo warriors and babies in the NICU!  We are so grateful for your continued support and generosity!  Thank you for making this world better and for spreading love and hope!

Thank you!
~Pali

 

 

 

Special Delivery in May

Our sweet friend, Melissa picked up our delivery for May, which consisted of 50 hats for children cancer warriors at CHOC and 141 baby items for St. Joseph’s.

The delivery for St. Joseph’s will be just in time for all the new moms on Mother’s Day!  We were able to donate 3 blankets & matching baby hat sets, along with 135 other baby hats of various sizes, colors and styles.

We greatly appreciate everyone who made this special delivery possible and are so amazed that our grand total of hats delivered is 5,147!  We are so appreciative of everyone on our team– you make a difference!

Thank you!
~Pali

 

5 Year Blogiversary!

Today we are celebrating our 5 Year Blogiversary!

When we first began this journey, we had no idea that 5 years later we would still be going strong. It really is an amazing feeling to look back at how we have contributed to others and helped make their days a bit brighter. We are proud that we have done our part to give back to our community and we are so proud to have made and met so many wonderful friends on this journey.  As we have said before, we could not have done this without the support of our friends. A big shout out to everyone who made it possible for Knitting Rays of Hope to provide 4,956 hats to NICU babies and Cancer Warriors these past 5 years. Here is to another wonderful 5 years to come filled with continued friends, new friends, and Rays of Sunshine!
~Vanessa

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Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays Everyone!!! Wishing you the happiest of times spent with family and loved ones. Be safe and cherish these wonderful days!
~Vanessa & Pali

 

 

Your Tribe

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Wisdom from Jimi Hendrix

My father-in-Law often gave us wisdom in simple, yet profound terms, and this was one of his favorite quotes.

Castles made of sand will fall into the sea, eventually- Jimi Hendrix

In this day of social media, fake and attention seeking culture, this is a great reminder to build strong and sustainable foundations for yourself, family, and relationships.

Have a fantastic day!
~Pali

82 Hats for Children Chemo Warriors

Our Ambassador of Hope, Melissa recently took these hats for children chemo warriors at CHOC.

Some of these hats were given to us by friends in July, but we are now delivering them as the weather cools down slightly in California.  I am positive that these will bring hope and love to our pediatric chemo warriors!

Our grand total to date is now 4,219 hats delivered! We are so excited to see how far Knitting Rays of Hope has grown!    We hope that we will be able to sustain this volume to keep all our local hospitals loved and warm.  We thank each and every one of our team members who helped make this possible!  We are blown away by how  creative, generous and caring all of you are- striving to make a difference in our world!  Keep spreading hope!

Thank you!
~Pali

Rock Purple for Pancreatic Cancer Awareness

November is Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month.

In 2012, 2 days after Christmas we lost my funny and strong sister-in-law to this horrible disease and we have missed her every day since 12/27/12.  I made these hats in honor of Wanda and her brave fight with pancreatic cancer.  I hope to continue making purple hats all month long!

Crocheted hat for a teenager

Homespun Yarn Crochet

Some facts about Pancreatic Cancer from pancan.org

Wage Hope Together!

October Delivery of 227 Items

Last week, our dear friend Melissa delivered 227 items for Knitting Rays of Hope.  She delivered 111 items to CHOC, which included 98 hats, 11 scarves and 2 knitted purses for children cancer warriors.  She also took in 116 hats for babies in the NICU at St. Joesph’s in Orange County.

98 hats for children fighting cancer

 

11 scarves and 2 purses for children fighting cancer

116 hats for babies in the NICU

We are so proud of our entire team!  With this delivery, we have spread hope & love to over 4,000 families!  I am so proud of each and every one of you; without all of your efforts and love, none of this would be possible.  This month, Jazlyn coordinated the hats for delivery by tagging, photographing and counting them, and Melissa our delivery ambassador was crucial in picking the hats up and then delivering them to both hospitals!  If you contributed your hats to Knitting Rays of Hope, please know how wonderfully awesome you are and the impact you are making in the world!  Special thanks to our team– and what a special team they are!

Thank you!  Thank you!  Thank you!
~Pali