Beanies have arrived!

This week a wonderful neighbor of mine offered to unpack and log the beanies. Thank you VERY much to everyone who made these beautiful hats and sent them.
They were received from the following people:

Along with the beanies, we received a GIANT stack of handmade cards from Darlene Tasso's grand daughter and her classmates. They are so awesome and VERY appreciated. I have 2 huge shipments of beanies that have been waiting for tags. They can now be shipped. Thank you!


Thanks again to each and every person who supports our Beanies For Bravery project. For more information please follow the link. We will be shipping beanies to soldiers until April 15, 2014.

Beanies for Bravery

Beanies have been received from the following people during the month of Sept, 2013:

 Thank you for sending beanies. Every single beanie helps and brings warmth to a soldier away from home.

Let's Start Shipping Beanies!

We will be accepting beanies for soldiers from now until April 15, 2014. Last year we met and exceeded our goal and would like to do that again this year. Beanies are simple and quick to make. The units, commanders and USO contacts have been very appreciative!

Making beanies:
There are specific guidelines. Please follow these because hats that are the wrong colors or sizes cannot be sent and are a waste of your time and shipping expense. Specifications: Beanies must be dark brown or black, 8 ½ – 10 inches deep and 21 – 24 inches in circumference. PLEASE measure and make sure your hat is the right size.
Any pattern, knit or crochet, may be used. After searching and coming across many great crochet patterns, I found one that I really love and not just because of the pattern. It IS a great pattern and the results are consistent. Easy enough for a beginner too. What drew me to the pattern was the fact that it belongs to a mother of 3 sailors, one of whom is currently stationed in Afghanistan. This pattern has been passed down from her grandmother.
Please respect her and the pattern and do not distribute it for profit in part or whole.
BFB Pattern

Please attach a small note of thanks to the soldier to each hat you send. Do NOT include personal addresses or phone numbers on the tags. 


Note: some branches of the military request only 100% wool items, but the units we send to have requested non wool, washable fibers. I continually check to make sure we are providing items our soldiers are able to use.
 
If you have ANY questions or know of a soldier we could send hats to, please email Heidi.
Past posts and pictures can be found here.

Beanies for Bravery Breaks Goal

WE did it! In September, our goal was to break the 2000 mark.  As of our last shipment, we have sent 2125 beanies to U.S. troops! Without the help of snappy peeps we could not have done this. I receive letters from family members and the soldiers themselves and they are very thankful for giving them a boost during hard times. For many, the hand made hat and letter is the only package they receive during their tour. THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for helping fulfill this dream. We started in July of 2011 with the dream of sending 100 hats to a family friend.

Not only did we send a HUGE amount to soldiers, we came together and sent almost that many to Sandy Hook students and staff.

Our shipping season has come to an end, but I hope you will continue to make hats over the summer (PLEASE follow guidelines). It is an awesome project for family reunions and camp. We ALWAYS can use handwritten letters to the troops too so keep that in mind for those that want to help, but can't make a hat.
Have a super summer and start sending them again in August.
Want information about our project? PLEASE check out the guidelines and follow along on our bfb site.

Beanies always accepted

I got a message tonight from a wonderful lady. She has a friend whose brother was recently injured by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan while serving in the military. She asked if it would be possible for the BFB (Beanies for Bravery Project) to send beanies to these soldiers who lost most of their possessions in the attack.
Thanks to so many of you I have enough hats and notes to send! I am extremely thankful for each and every handmade beanie I receive every single week. I also received a stack of letters/pictures from a local 5th grade class. These will be put with each beanie and sent asap.
I am very thankful for this project. I am thankful we have been able to send over 1200 beanies since August 2011.
Our soldiers are cold and could use a boost from home. Please consider making a hat for a soldier. I will be sending them through March. If you know of an Army soldier overseas who we could send hats and letters to please email heidi@snappy-tots.com.
For information about our project, please read posts below this one. Thank you.

Beanies for soldiers:
Since July 2011, thanks to outstanding snappy friends, 750+ beanies have been sent to soldiers in Afghanistan and surrounding areas. If you would be interested in helping, please read the guidelines below. Past posts and pictures can be found here.

Making beanies:
There are specific guidelines. Please follow these because hats that are the wrong colors or sizes cannot be sent and are a waste of your time and shipping expense. Specifications: Beanies must be dark brown or black, 8 ½ – 10 inches deep and 21 – 24 inches in circumference. PLEASE measure and make sure your hat is the right size.
Any pattern, knit or crochet, may be used. After searching and coming across many great crochet patterns, I found one that I really love and not just because of the pattern. It IS a great pattern and the results are consistent. Easy enough for a beginner too. What drew me to the pattern was the fact that it belongs to a mother of 3 sailors, one of whom is currently stationed in Afghanistan. This pattern has been passed down from her grandmother.
Please respect her and the pattern and do not distribute it for profit in part or whole.
BFB Pattern


NEW - Beanies for families:
When I started the Beanies for Bravery project I first had soldiers in mind. After watching elementary school age children at a low income school playing at recess during winter, without hats and gloves, I realized bravery comes in many forms. I then learned many of these kids, over 30% had family members currently serving in the military.
During our first Beanies for Bravery project I had several people ask if they could send hats to children. Currently the soldiers we send to are in forward areas, too dangerous for families. After much searching I have located a few areas where soldiers are stationed with families and in need of hats.
Guidelines: Because these hats are going to kids and not the soldiers they can be any shape, color, size, style, etc. How fun! A lot of these kids move frequently so care packages are always welcome to boost their morale too.

Letters/cards: Each beanie has a thank you note attached. Over half of the beanies we receive do not have a note with them. If you are interested in writing a thank you letter to a soldier or their family, please email it to heidi@snappy-tots.com. It only takes a few minutes to write, but will be appreciated greatly. For some soldiers, this may be the only letter they receive for some time. Letters can be about the area you live, your connections to military personnel, anything. This is a perfect way for those unable to send beanies to help. No cost involved either!

Please ship ALL beanies to:
H Yates
848 Kentwood Dr
Brigham City, Ut  84302

Questions: email  heidi@snappy-tots.com, subject line: BFB