So my car is in the shop right now and I am over at my mother's house hanging out and sewing for charity again. My good friend Victor asked all his friends to help make Easter baskets (in cooperation with local group eBunny) for infants filled with essentials like socks, onesies, shirts, receiving blankets, baby wipes, toys, baby cereal, and so on. With Las Vegas being ground zero for foreclosures, you can imagine that shelters are seeing a lot more families then they used to.

So I took my mom over to Joann's and we lucked out and found flannel on sale at half off. It takes about 1.35 yards to make a 45" square blanket. This size is FAR MORE useful then the tiny ones you usually get at the store and the heavier flannel lasts a lot longer. In fact, my daughter still has some from when she was a toddler and she's 11!

We bought enough to make 16 giant receiving blankets as well as a few burp pads and wash cloths. I just have 4 more to run through the serger. I'll drop these off along with the basket Holly (my daughter) and I shopped for and assembled yesterday.

She's taken an interest in babies lately. Last month, she got the mail and there was an appeal from the March of Dimes. So she counted all the change in my jars and insisted we send the $27.60 to the March of Dimes. Then she gave $6 of her carnival money at the St.Patrick's Day Parade to buy a little bunny, also to support March of Dimes. I am gratified to see my commitment to "micro-philanthropy" taking root in my daughter. The problems in the world seem so large, but you do not have to do big things or be ultra rich to make a difference in your community. You just have to see a need and do what you can with the means you have.