Where To Donate Your Handmade Crochet Items: 9 Places To Check Out

One of the greatest joys of crochet is that you can use your hands and minimal materials to make gifts that make others smile.

When you crochet for charity, you may be helping to save or significantly improve someone’s life. But where should you donate your handmade crochet items?

Here are some of our favorite charities where you can donate crocheted items. Remember that their needs change often, so we recommend you always check with an organization ahead of time before donating items.

Red Scarf Project

Foster Care to Success is an established organization that lends support to foster children who head to college. This transition can be tough for any student and especially for young adults who might not have any family support behind them.

You can help this organization by donating to its Red Scarf Project. They accept handmade scarves with the following characteristics:

  • Any shade of red
  • Fringe optional
  • Between 5″ and 8″ wide and about 60″ long

Note that scarves are only accepted during the last four months of every calendar year; they are given to college students in Valentine’s care packages. The organization’s Student Care Package program offers a great way to make a difference by donating other small items as well.

Other Places to Donate Crochet for Foster Children and Children in Need:

  • Project Linus. This great organization accepts washable, handmade blankets for traumatized and seriously ill children from ages 0-18.
  • Project Night Night. Donate blankets and stuffed toys “to homeless children from birth to pre-teen who need our childhood essentials to have a concrete and predictable source of security.”
  • Binky Patrol. This is an “All volunteer, national, non-profit organization making and distributing homemade blankets to children born HIV+, drug-addicted, infected with AIDS or other chronic & terminal illnesses, those who are abused, in foster care or experiencing a trauma of any kind.”

Carewear

If you love to make crochet baby items then this charity might be for you. Carewear accepts a wide variety of handmade baby items for donation to many different hospitals. They accept hats, booties, blankets, preemie items, and more.

Other Places to Donate Crochet For Babies:

  • Bundles of Love. This nonprofit organization provides homemade clothing, bedding, and baby care items to families in need in the state of Minnesota.
  • Knitting Rays of Hope. Crochet a hat for a baby in the NICU or otherwise in need.

Operation Gratitude

Support the troops by making crochet hats and scarves for Operation Gratitude. They prefer neutral colors, with scarves that are a maximum of 4″ wide and 36″ long and do not include fringe.

The scarves are added to care packages and sent to a diverse group of military members including those who are deployed, new members, veterans, wounded members, and the family members of these people. Over 150,000 care packages are sent annually by this organization!

Other Places to Donate Crochet for the Military:

  • The Ships Project. Donate crochet hats and slippers to members of the military who are deployed on the ground or at sea. They have approved patterns and colors along with specific shipping deadlines (rolling dates), so check the site for current details.
  • Soldier’s Angels. This crafting team provides handmade items to service members, veterans, and their families.
  • Knit Your Bit. Crochet a scarf for donation to veterans’ centers, hospitals, and service organizations across the country.

Halos of Hope

Many people enjoy making crochet hats and they are a perfect item to donate to people who going through chemo treatment for cancer.

Halos of Hope accepts crochet chemo caps for babies aged 6 months and up as well as for children, teens, and adults. These should be soft hats that are long enough to cover the ears of the patient; patterns are suggested on the website.

These are donated to more than 450 different cancer centers.

Other places to donate crochet for cancer patients:

  • Knots of Love. This organization provides hats to patients of all ages undergoing cancer treatments. If you’re not sure how to get started, they have free patterns and even sell complete kits. 
  • Crochet for Cancer. This is a Christian non-profit that donates handmade hats to cancer treatment centers.
  • Feel Better Friends. Make crochet dolls for children who are going through chemo treatment.
  • Knitted Knockers. Crochet a handmade breast prosthesis for a breast cancer survivor who has undergone a mastectomy.

From Ewe to You

From Ewe to You. This is a year-round charitable organization collecting a variety of crochet donations for people in need. They also accept donations for animals in need!

Other Places to Donate Crochet for the Homeless:

Afghans for Afghans

Afghans for Afghans works with relief agencies to provide handmade items to people in need in Afghanistan. They accept crocheted blankets as well as accessories and clothing. Note that they run campaigns periodically and only accept donations at that time.

Other Places to Donate Crochet for Distribution Around the World:

  • Knit-a-Square. This organization accepts crochet blanket squares for donation to children in southern Africa who are orphaned, abandoned, or otherwise vulnerable.
  • Mother Bear Project. This group helps children who have been affected by HIV/ AIDS by providing them with hand-knit or crocheted bears.
  • Wool-Aid. This organization provides knitted or crocheted garments to children in cold climates who are in need.

Warm Up America

One of the most well-established and popular organizations to donate crochet items is Warm Up America.

By partnering with organizations including homeless shelters, battered women’s shelters, American Red Cross chapters, veterans homes, senior centers, hospice centers, and more, Warm Up America reaches vulnerable people across the country.

Take Me I'm Yours Mittens
Photo Credit: Warm Up America

They accept crochet blankets and blanket squares, scarves, baby clothing, and hats for adults.

If making an entire blanket or garment is too daunting, you can make squares for Warm Up America volunteers to join into blankets. The tutorial below shows one pattern you could use. 

Other Places to Donate General Crochet to Those in Need:

  • My Recovery Buddy. This organization distributes crochet “buddies” to people who need support during difficult times, including addiction, trauma, or illness.
  • Friends of Pine Ridge Reservation. Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota is home to the Oglala Sioux Tribe. These are families living in poverty who have a great need for handmade items. They accept a variety of items.

Snuggles Project

The Snuggles Project accepts crochet donations for pets in animal shelters to help them feel more comfortable, safe, and cozy. These items also help shelter volunteers and workers, not to mention visitors, to feel more comfortable in a less industrial, homier setting.

Snuggles Project maintains a directory of animal shelters around the country and what they need.

Other Places to Donate Crochet for Animals:

Miscellaneous Specific Charities

The following charities accept donations for specific groups:

  • The Pink Slipper Project. Crochet pink slippers for women in domestic violence shelters to give them comfort and hope.
  • Christmas at Sea. “The Seamen’s Church Institute invites you to knit or crochet a garment to warm mariners’ hearts and bodies this winter.”

Find Other Charities

If none of these charities are quite what you’re looking for, you can search online for other charities. Try the following search tools:

  • CGA. This is an alphabetical list of organizations nationwide that accept crochet donations.
  • The Crochet Crowd. This is an interactive map showing places that accept crochet donations.

Donate Crochet Locally

These crochet charities may have local chapters or you may need to ship the items.

If you want to share your crochet talents locally, some of the best places to check with in your area include hospitals, schools, daycares, domestic violence shelters, homeless shelters, counseling centers, nursing homes, animal rescues, and churches.

Kelsey
Kelsey Mlnarik

Kelsey has been a crafter since childhood and enjoys crochet, sewing, and any craft she can make with her children. She loves learning new techniques and sharing what she learns along the way. Kelsey someday hopes to be someone's crafty grandmother, crocheting afghans and drinking entire pots of coffee.

8 thoughts on “Where To Donate Your Handmade Crochet Items: 9 Places To Check Out”

  1. Thank you for the great list! Since you are in San Francisco, do you happen to know of any Bay Area nonprofits that have their volunteers meet in groups to crochet items to donate?

  2. What a fantastic list! Thank you for taking the time to put this together. It is a great resource for me and plan on getting busy to crochet for charities!

    Again, thank you! :)

  3. I have a strange request however maybe you encountered before. In 1985, I was given by my mom’s friend Evie, the below crochet bedspread. I had it cleaned back in 1985 and placed in a bag. Prior to receiving, it was used and over time, the edges did turn a shade. I contacted my Evie’s son in Ohio and he has no interest. Would someone in this network is interested ?

    If anyone is interested, let me know and I can send a photo. It is heavy so unsure of the cost to mail

    Thank you
    Laurie in CT

Leave a Comment