Ducks of Sandy Hook

If you are a snappy peep, then you know we sent over 1500 handmade beanies to Sandy Hook Elementary last month. I am still hoping for pix of some kind and will share any I receive.

A few days ago, after posting about our event coming up in May involving rubber ducks dressed in sweaters, I received an email from my Sandy Hook contact. She shared a few links and asked I pass them along. Sandy Hook is sharing rubber ducks and bringing some joy to their school. I have been looking through pix on their facebook page, The Ducks of Sandy Hook Elementary. Take a few minutes to read what they are doing.

Here are a few other articles about Sandy Hook Ducks:
Helping Newtown Children Heal
Getting Involved


Sandy Hook is asking for duck donations. 
A note from the resource officer that started this event:
I am assigned to the Sandy Hook School as the school based police officer. A donor had sent approximately 500 small rubber ducks, which the kids loved immensely. My counterpart and I spread them out everyday in the lobby of the school kids, and yes adults, take them to keep. The joy the ducks bring to everyone can not be put into words. We plan to keep buying ducks and placing them out everyday as long as the school is in use. Anyone that would like to help us with the purchasing of the ducks, your help is greatly appreciated. If you would like to send a monetary donation or order ducks contact me and I will provide an address (address below was provided after this original post). Everyone in the school enjoys the ducks and we never want to have to tell anyone we don't have any to give them, child or adult.
Here is the address to send ducks to:
Ducks of Sandy Hook
261 S. Main St. Box # 312
Newtown CT. 06470

Where to buy Sandy Hook ducks: http://m.orientaltrading.com/mt/www.orientaltrading.com/green-awareness-ribbon-rubber-duckies-a2-16_1304-12-1.fltr?Ntt=ribbon+ducks

Shipping the beanies

A very nice lady from my post office came and picked up the boxes of beanies. Seeing all of them stacked in my driveway, she wondered if I had an online business. I told her about all of you and this wonderful project. She was truly touched and said she was thankful for good people still left in the world.

The boxes were stacked in our garage waiting for pick up. They took up the size of a small car!

Luckily we had great weather the day they were picked up. One of the few non-snowy days that week.

Part of the boxes loaded in the truck...we made several trips.

...and there they go. Thank you nice post office lady. I hope we get to see pix :)

Thank you VERY much for helping make this project possible. Tracking shows the hats made it to their destination. I included a note with every box and hope to receive a picture showing they made it. I understand it they dont want to show pix of the kids and our contact has said they may wait to pass them out in the fall. Even a picture of them sitting in a room in CT would make me smile.

Adopt a Box

Please help pay to ship beanies to Sandy Hook Elementary.
Sign up on the form at THIS LINK. There are 45 spots available.

If you would like to adopt a box:

• Fill out one of the pink lines with name and email adress.
• Send $15.00 through paypal to brandonandheidi@msn.com by 2/22/13.
• Please do NOT change or remove any information posted by others.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH!! Everyone that adopts a box will receive 2 free patterns from Snappy Tots during the month of March.

Click HERE for more information.

Sandy Hook Beanies

The time is finally here to ship all of the beanies to Sandy Hook Elementary! The school was flooded with donations during the weeks following the tragedy and we were asked to hold our shipment until after mid February.

I am beyond excited for them to receive these beautiful hats. We more then doubled our goal of 600, collecting 1560 hats! I will forever be thankful for every person involved in this project including everyone who made and shipped hats, those who spread the word, the many people who paid for yarn and shipping for others to make hats and every single person who has prayed for the people of Newton, CT and all those affected. Of course we wish this tragedy had never happened and never had the need for this project.

From the beginning of the project people have offered to help with shipping. Since the hats have been collected under my organization "Beanies for Bravery" we cannot accept donations. It has been suggested people "adopt a box", literally paying to ship individual boxes instead. On Wednesday, 2/20/13 at 3pm mt (5pm eastern) I will post a sign up sheet and information for purchasing labels. We will be shipping approximately 50 boxes at $15.00 each.Some labels have already been paid for...THANK YOU to those individuals!

Shipping FAQ answers:

• We have shipped over 1400 beanies to soldiers and have found the most efficient way to pack beanies, allowing the most in a box possible (approximately 30-35 per box).
• We packed one large USPS flat rate shipping box and a regular box of equal size and took both to the post office to see which would be cheapest shipping. Because they will be shipped from Utah, USPS flat rate is cheaper. We took the same regular box to UPS and it was quite a bit more then the flat rate box.
• Each box will include a letter, thanking Sandy Hook for letting us send the beanies and information about the project (states and countries they came from, etc).

THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart! I am very honored to have been part of this project. I appreciate all of the wonderful letters and fun items sent with the hats. I will share pictures of the packing and shipping process, as well as any I receive from my contact at the school.

Blessed by caring hearts

As of 3/4/13, 1543 beanies have arrived from 40 states and 4 countries!
 

Qty	Name	Location
3	Tiana Baker	*Canada
1	Christine Tiesbrecht	*Canada
6	Shaunna Hallsson	*Canada
2	Brenda Sheydwasser	*Canada
12	Kelly Thies	*Canada
2	Tammy O'Sullivan	*Canada
4	M & J Vandenberg	*Canada
2	Melanie McCann	*Canada
7	Marianne Vanesbroeck	*Canada
3	Jennifer Holmes	*Canada
7	Elizabeth Aylward	*S Africa
2	Carly Mailing	*UK
1	Darlene Tasso	AL
3	April White	AL
3	Diane White	AL
6	Julie Eve	AL
5	Amber Wright	AL
6	Lee Becker	AL
2	Heidi Kittelson	AR
2	Jana Bichara	AR
1	Michele Travis	AZ
1	Jennifer Sharp	AZ
1	Kimberly DeMoise	AZ
1	Andrea Palmer	AZ
10	Amy McConnell Heiman	AZ
1	Susan Foote	CA
1	Lisa Smith	CA
2	Angie Hale	CA
6	Karen Anderson	CA
10	Becky Milton	CA
6	Britt Null	CA
2	Sherry Conrad	CA
2	Tia Arcand	CA
9	Mitchell	CA
5	Glee Martin	CA
3	Terri Kent	CA
1	Stace Walker	CA
1	Evelene Sterling	CA
5	D Houck & D MacMahon	CA
1	Irene Peji	CA
7	Trina Phillips	CA
4	Amy Jeans	CA
8	Karen Zakaria	CA
1	Jenn Corce	CA
2	Katrina Goodwin	CA
3	Loida Detwiler	CA
7	Gaby Mullen	CA
2	L Takayesu	CA
8	Christine Davis	CA
2	Allison Gonzalez	CA
3	L Takayesu	CA
6	Vanessa Pedrego	CA
6	Brenda Churchwell	CA
3	Maria Dorantes	CA
4	Phi Nguyen	CA
4	Nancy Gambill	CA
8	Gillon	CA
12	Tina Cole	CA
5	Sara Duggan	CA
38	Gladys DeJesus	CA
4	Valerie Shears	CA
1	Maria Protsyuk	CA
13	Sara Sach	CO
7	Amy Fox	CO
2	Brammer	CO
20	Jennifer Root	CO
1	McMillan Family	CO
6	H Norris & C Fine	CO
2	Sarah Shiver	CO
2	Stepahnie Turbiville	CT
11	Bonni Ojeda	CT
5	Ashley Berard	CT
2	Lisa Wolfel	FL
3	Justin Pennington	FL
1	Lisette Moore	FL
4	Nancy Howarth	FL
5	Theresa Bigler	GA
7	T Ontiveros	GA
6	Kelli Pedersen	IA
2	Shona Roeder	IA
7	Stacy Rhoads	IA
8	Riley	IA
6	Melissa Bradley	ID
1	Sara Schlismann	IL
7	Cherity Machnick	IL
4	Julie Kelly	IL
3	Velasquez	IL
3	Yeager	IL
10	Elizabeth Brown	IL
4	Danielle Harrison	IL
4	Regina Cook	IL
9	Deborah Anderson	IL
1	Leanne Greene	IN
1	Crochet by Carla	IN
12	Karen Stir	IN
3	Katie Sparks	IN
5	Rich	IN
3	Brenda Gudenschwager	IN
9	Jan Workman	IN
5	Jennifer Boucher	IN
1	Saundra	IN
1	Cheryl Speights	KS
11	Charlene Ricker	KS
13	Kathleene Carlos	KS
1	Billie Conrad	KY
10	Gabriele Medley	KY
7	Mary McAdoo	KY
6	Jessica Gomm	LA
5	Kay Avara	LA
5	Cindy Raymond	MA
6	Nancy Holden	MA
1	Mary Lou Giovetti	MA
3	Cortnee Wenerouiz	MA
1	J & Antonio Stuckey	MA
4	Lisa Romolo	MA
12	Gilberte Siras	ME
14	Tammy Rollston	MI
7	Mary Maxwell	MI
6	Anita Mills	MI
3	Cora Leibowitz	MI
2	Marge Burke	MI
3	Marie Woodman	MI
36	Susanna White Day	MI
14	Gwen Jenks Haney	MI
4	Christy Kelly	MI
12	Kristy Nawrocki	MI
10	Shannon Kilmartin	MN
1	Molly Liyan	MN?
5	Margaret Worman	MO
9	Danica Walker	MO
2	Tracy McDermott	MO
1	Linda Kaffer	MO
10	Jamie Bell	MO
3	B Brady	MO
2	Beth Williamson	MO
16	Helen Deines	MO
3	Bethany Brady	MO
9	Judy Hampton	MO
8	Melissa Johnson	MO
3	Melissa Lodahl	MT
5	Tanya Johnson	MT
3	Laura Gates	MT
2	Jacey Hermann	MT
4	Cyndi Hughes	NC
6	Julie Cheek	NC
6	Betty Plemmons	NC
4	Tina M	NC
2	unknown	NC
7	Linda Salant	NC
18	Dempsey/Denlea	NC
4	Peggy Elmore	NC
7	Angie Kuzel	NE
3	Amanda Pitschmann	NE
1	Beverly Cutsinger	NE
1	Brandy Holly	NE
6	Jenny Prickett	NE
20	Norma Davis	NJ
6	Joanne Thompson	NJ
2	R Rossi	NJ
6	Jodi Weiss	NJ
3	Stacie Rich	NJ
2	Elanie Anderson	NJ
5	Mt Butler	NJ
6	Ledlow Family	NM
8	Alaine Tingey	NV
1	Allison White	NY
3	Donna Danyluk	NY
2	Andrea Middleton	NY
4	Kristin Strack	NY
7	Parri Kosior	NY
3	Anita Cornetto	NY
2	Betty Harvey	NY
8	Sanchirico	NY
42	Stitch & Bitch Group	NY
4	Winnie Wong	NY
2	Jessica Ays	NY
6	Sumi Funayama	OH
6	Katy Shover	OH
3	Rachelle Rapp	OH
8	Stephanie Brodersen	OH
7	Aimee King	OH
1	Tdotson	OH
9	Brittig	OH
10	Elisabeth Spivey	OK
7	Chapman	OK
2	J Pillips	OK
10	Michelle Yarbrough	OK
5	Dawn Golden	OR
8	Christen Salinas	OR
5	C Breitbarth	OR
6	Jennifer Weavill	OR
3	Brooke Heinzer	OR
4	Zimmerman Family	OR
7	Waibel	OR
3	Kristine Breach	OR
2	Maggie Klein	PA
5	J Tabangcura	PA
1	Heather Windle	PA
12	Candis Bradshaw	PA
10	Rose	PA
3	Alyssa McConnell	PA
5	Melissa Piersol	PA
4	Debra Cain	PA
9	Alycia Dooley	PA
3	Ashley Weeks	PA
10	Lois Kline	PA
3	Clara Yoder	PA
6	Bobbie & Andrea Farally	PA
3	Kelly Heckman	PA
1	Shilo Hersman	RI
3	Jamie Burns	SC
16	Elizabeth Crosby	SC
5	Stitch @ Nite Group	TN
15	D Niemann	TX
5	Leah Curran	TX
2	Nena Booth	TX
2	Tiffany Schatz	TX
3	Kimberly McGarity	TX
10	Deanna Mattice	TX
4	Hannah Guillovy	TX
5	Anadel Luna	TX
10	Linda Andrews	TX
4	unknown	TX
10	Chrissy Herman group	TX
2	Kelli Arceneaux	TX
4	Corinne Mattinson	UT
17	Heidi Yates	UT
4	Stokes	UT
2	Nancy Goss	UT
13	Bond? (in person)	UT
1	Debbie Yates	UT
2	Saralena Haight	UT
6	Dayley	UT
7	Suzi Q Creations	UT
77	Paysha Lloyd	UT
9	Missy Foofalina	UT
4	Camille Tripp	UT
8	Carrie Adams	UT
3	Melissa Thomas	UT
7	Ladies of Knit Unique	UT
2	April Oostveen	UT
3	Coralie Rowley	VA
5	Jill Goynes	VA
15	Terry Graham	VA
1	Leigh Trinh	VA
2	Denham	VA
10	Misty Buchanan	VA
5	Laura Dodson	VA
2	Donna McGonigal	VA
1	Davis	VA
1	Cherie Klein	WA
2	Lynn Serrato	WA
1	Elizabeth Bauede	WA
1	Shannon Winbun	WA
4	Bridget Meredith	WA
6	Melanie Spaulding	WA
2	Laurie Manus	WA
3	Jennifer Hatch	WI
15	Angela Vanguilder	WI
3	J Koerper	WI
2	Lois Blanchard	WI
7	Brittani Meidl	WI
2	Gail Drenzek	WI
5	Jacky Limmer	WI
2	Riddel	WV
17	Unknown	?
1543		40 states
		4 countries
Also sent beanies for soldiers
2	Sumi Funayama
1	McMillan Family
3	Trina Phillips
1	Sterling
2	Margaret Worman
1	Marge Burke
1	Shaunna Hallsson
4	Danielle Harrison
4	Debbie Procek
4	Corinne Mattinson

Thank you to the MANY people who have made beautiful beanies for the students and faculty of Sandy Hook Elementary!  
Shipping: Since we have received over twice as many beanies as we had originally hoped for, a lot more postage will be needed. As we start to box up the beanies, I will be posting information about adopting a box to help cover shipping charges. Each box will cost approximately $15.00. Some already sent money and that will be applied to shipping. I appreciate your help in getting these sent. We will be sending approximately 30 large boxes (we have gotten to be PROS and squeezing the most hats in each box).

Beanies for brave students

Due to a HUGE response we have exceeded our goal of 600 hats. If everyone sends all of the hats they say they have made then we will have enough. At this point please do not make anymore hats. Please send what you have. I will keep updating our count and let people know if more are needed.

Adult/faculty hats: We originally were going to start making hats specifically for the faculty in adult sizes. Since we have gone over our projected amount I am going to wait and see what comes in before we make anymore. With the soldier hats, even tho everyone uses the same pattern they come in a huge variety of sizes. I think we might end up with enough larger sized hats that can be used for the faculty. If not, then we can always open this back up and make more.

both were made as "child size". As you can see...hats end up in a variety of sizes.

At this time, 12/27/12, please send what you have made and do not make anymore.

THANK YOU so very much for your help!

If you are interested in making hats for soldiers, you will find information in this article. All soldier beanies MUST be black or DARK brown, washable and fit all guidelines as listed in the article. Due to military request, no loom hats are accepted.
Any hats made for soldiers which do not fit the guidelines (wrong color, wrong size, etc) will be donated to a charity.

Beanies for Brave Students

As part of our "beanies for bravery project" we will be focusing on the survivors of Sandy Hook Elementary for the month of January.

Instead of making soldier beanies, we will try to reach a goal of 600 hats for the students.
It is VERY important you follow guidelines. Over the past 16 months 1200+ beanies have been shipped to soldiers in Afghanistan and surrounding areas and I have learned A LOT along the way.


ALL BEANIES must be as similar as possible. We do not want ANY student feeling bad because they did not receive the hat with "extras".
Therefore, please stick to plain beanies in GREEN, WHITE or GREEN AND WHITE STRIPES. A free pattern with all necessary info will be posted. PLEASE read through it thoroughly. It will answer many of your questions.

What shade of green, you might ask? This one, from Red Heart Yarn, is perfect! Please try to use something similar.

Red Heart With Love Yarn "Clover"

Yes, there will be a variety of sizes needed, but I found the soldier hats always come in various sizes even though strict measurements were given. I am confident we can do this. Most kids can wear similar sizes.

Guidelines: Please read through the "Sandy Hook BFB" pattern and guideline sheet 

Here are some important notes also listed on that sheet:
All beanies must be regular beanies. NO earflaps, NO mohawks, NO flowers. I know it would be fun to do little extras but with large of a group it is important to keep them similar/equal.

Ship beanies to me, postmarked before January 31, 2013. (address is on the sheet listed above.

If you have questions please email heidi@ snappy-tots.com, subject "bfb".

Shipping Cost: when we get closer to shipping time, I will be asking for people to "adopt a box" and help pay shipping. Each box will cost approximately $15.00 to ship and there will be at least 20 boxes (we have gotten to be pros on squeezing as many beanies in a box as possible). 

FACEBOOK GROUP

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another way to help: Two wonderful ladies are collecting 6" squares to put memory blankets together for the families of the victims. Squares are easy and quick to make. Please support their project as well.

Memory Blankets for CT Families