Youth Commission: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service Knit-a-Thon a Sucess!

Rodney Gaskins and Austin Brown, middle right, Of the Fairbanks Rescue Mission

The Knit-a-Thon turned out to be a huge success, We got coverage in our local newspaper , the Daily News-Miner as well as spots in the NBC Channel 11 and CBS Channel 13 news. Over 115 people showed up to help out! Over 60 area youth came to make items to donate to the people living at the Rescue Mission and Center for Non Violent Living, a couple of moms were there because their children insisted they participate! We collected a box of meat and two boxes of canned food for the Rescue Mission. We collected 124 scarves, 34 hats, 7neck warmers, 2 pairs of mittens, 2 pot holders and 1 sweater! We got a tremendous amount of support from our community, So i would like to thank them all here without further to do.

But First - This Project would not have been possible without Americorps Vista Volunteers.We were helping them out, not the other way around. I made this tri-org logo for the event, pretty cool, huh?

Business's/Organizations: Mt. McKinley Bank, Alaska State Yarn Council, Pizza Hut, Pazzo G’s Pizza Joint, Memories and More, Interior Alaska Center for Non Violent Living, Joel’s Place, UAF Cooperative Extension, Rescue Mission, and the Food Bank,

Teachers:

These folks worked all day helping others learn to knit, crochet, or sew throughout the event. Linda Harriger, Sue Cole, Victoria Throop, Rita Osborne, and Sheri Layral,

And MANY, MANY individuals who participated and donated to the cause.

We’d like to thank everyone for all of your support and help on this day of commemoration for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his wonderful work. This event shows us that people from everywhere can and do work together in a united effort.

Lars's Thoughts:

As they streaming in through the door we hardly even realized what was happening. Kelley and I were surprised at how fast we were able to pick up knitting, but we were so busy that we hardly ever had any time to knit. In the end I was able to knit half of a scarf, which with the help of some wonderful ladies and a crochet hook I was able to convert it to a headband. It all went by so fast that It hasn't really sunk in until now. We were so excited as people started pouring in. Things went really smoothly and a lot of clothes were made. It was great meeting all of the hardcore knitters out there who were more than glad to help out for a good cause. The level of Youth involvement was what surprised me the most. As an organization, we are currently struggling on membership to the youth commission, but teens and kids showed up in droves! In fact, The West Valley JV Basketball team showed up. I can say that it is an out-of-the-ordinary act like that which makes me proud to be a West Valley student. The exposure we got from doing the event was awesome and we helped a lot of homeless people in our community. During the event, Rodney Gaskins, of the Fairbanks Rescue Mission, said that homeless people in our society become invisible, and that by doing this event we are saying 'no, you are not invisible and we care about you.' We can all learn so much from how over 115 people came together to help those in need. This is now official, we will do it again next year.