Thank You, WV & KY! Next Stop: TX!

Published: October 12, 2026 ~ 0

Happy Monday, dear T.H.R.I.V.E. Association family. We had such a wonderful time serving the homeless military veteran communities at their respective Stand Downs in West Virginia and Kentucky. We still have the Dallas, TX Stand Down coming up this month. It’s one of the largest Stand Downs that we serve and, like West Virginia, is one of our longest partnerships. Please keep those hats, scarves, and mittens coming in; they really do make a huge impact on the morale and comfort of the veterans and their dependents who attend.

If you’d like to donate a hat, scarf, mittens, or other handcrafted garment to our cause, please remember that the dear veterans and their dependents prefer dark colors, e.g. blue, black, green, grey, and all-time favorite, camouflage. If you would like to knit, crochet, or sew a garment in a brighter color, red or deep purple are always popular bright colors. We cannot emphasize this important point enough: please do not use sparkly or overly decorative yarns and fabrics. While they have their place, they are simply inappropriate for the veterans and their dependents (including children because of potential choking hazards).

If you are not a crafter, but would like to help, there are still many ways to support our cause! Please consider donating materials and/or making a monetary donation to help us cover the costs of materials, shipping, and overhead.

If you have donations within Baltimore or the DMV area, please contact us to schedule a pickup. If you reside outside of the Baltimore, MD or the DMV area and would like to make an in-kind donation, you can send your donations to us at:

Care of: Victoria Walker at T.H.R.I.V.E. Association
900 E Fayette St #1583
Baltimore, MD 21233

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us. Remember, even one lovingly handcrafted hat or scarf can make a huge difference in the life of an underprivileged veteran or their dependent(s).

We Need Your Support

Published: September 28, 2026 ~ 0

Happy Monday, dear T.H.R.I.V.E. Association family! It’s that time of year when our larger partners’ Stand Downs are being held. They have larger homeless veteran communities that they serve, all of whom need our lovingly handcrafted gifts to see them through the colder temperatures. Getting the gifts to their destinations comes dear and we need your monetary support to help us to accomplish our mission. Please consider making a one-time or monthly monetary donation to support our mission. All monetary donations are tax deductible and directly help to cover the costs of materials, shipping, and overhead. Check out our web-shop where you can show your T.H.R.I.V.E. pride with our branded stress footballs, t-shirts, and popular wristbands! No donation is too small, as every dollar goes to help further our mission of providing our great nation’s underprivileged military veterans and their dependents with lovingly handmade garments as they continue on their road to recovery from homelessness.

Keep the Donations Coming!

Published: September 21, 2026 ~ 0

Happy Monday, dear T.H.R.I.V.E. Association family. We’d like to thank all of our wonderful donors for all of your generous donations! We still need more hats, scarves, mittens, and lap blankets for the vulnerable community that we serve. Please keep those beautifully handcrafted donations coming; we can’t do this without you!

If you are able, please make a monetary donation to support our cause. All donations are tax-deductible and every cent will be used to further our mission to end homelessness among our nations’ veterans and their dependents. You can also donate yarn to our cause. Lion Brand Pound of Love is a favorite and we can easily make 6 double-thick hats with just a single skein! Our veterans and their dependents prefer darker colors, like blues, blacks, greens, grays, reds, royal purple, and camouflage.

Goal: 700 Hats and Scarves

Published: September 14, 2026 ~ 0

Happy Monday, dear T.H.R.I.V.E. Association family. There are several very large Stand Downs that T.H.R.I.V.E. Association proudly supports that are coming up in quick succession in the upcoming months. Please help us reach our goal of 700 handmade hats and scarves to meet the needs of the homeless military veterans and their dependents who are expected to attend these Stand Downs.

Care of: Victoria Walker at T.H.R.I.V.E. Association
900 E Fayette St #1583
Baltimore, MD 21233

Thank You, DFW Fiber Fest!

Published: August 31, 2026 ~ 0

Happy Monday, dear T.H.R.I.V.E. Association family. We’d like to extend a big thanks to DFW Fiber Fest for once again allowing us to share our mission with our wonderful DFW crafting community! We always look forward to making it to this amazing event every year and we had a great time meeting with you all and collecting your generous donations. Every beautifully handcrafted gift will be cherished by our veteran community and every dollar given will go towards accomplishing our mission nationwide. We are truly grateful to you all!

We’re Shipping out our Handcrafted Gifts

Published: August 3, 2026 ~ 0

Stand Downs are very effective at helping veterans recover from homelessness, and we love supporting them in their efforts. We have had several veterans who have attended Stand Downs in the past, received our gifts, and are now recovered sufficiently to volunteer/donate to our cause. Let’s keep that momentum going! Our goal is to end homelessness among our nation’s veterans and their dependents and we can’t do it without your support!

We need hats, scarves, and blankets for Anchorage!

Published: June 22, 2026 ~ 0

Happy Monday, dear T.H.R.I.V.E. Association family! Our C.E.O. is going back to Anchorage, Alaska for the V.A.’s annual VSO (Veteran Service Organizations) Day on July 15, 2026. We love meeting with the veterans and their families and letting them know that we’re here and how we support them as they recover from homelessness. The Anchorage VA and their veteran community are near and dear to us. Alaska has a very large homeless veteran population and we make it our mission to help reduce those numbers by providing our handmade gifts to the veterans as they work to get back on their feet.

Our goal is to take at least 150 hats and scarves, and 20 blankets to the Anchorage VA. These gifts are always deeply treasured by the veterans and their dependents. We have heard both from the veterans themselves and also from VA staff and other Community partners that our lovingly handcrafted gifts really do encourage the veterans and make them feel appreciated and loved. Our gifts are more than the sum of the parts; what makes them special is that they are handmade by the T.H.R.I.V.E. Association family of crafters with love and appreciation.

If you don’t craft, but want to help, please make a tax-deductible monetary donation to help cover the travel costs. Alternatively, if you would like to make an in-kind gift, we need Lion Brand Pound of Love yarn. Just one of these one-pound balls of yarn can easily make up to six warm double thick hats!

Upcoming Stand Downs

Published: June 15, 2026 ~ 0

Happy Monday, dear T.H.R.I.V.E. Association family! Many of our long-time partner Stand Downs have been sending us their wish lists for T.H.R.I.V.E. Association’s handcrafted gifts for their upcoming Stand Downs. As usual, we’ve set a goal for ourselves to create the most impact with the help of our very talented crafters. Currently, we need 500 hats, scarves, mittens, etc to meet the needs of our homeless veteran community that will be attending these Stand Downs. Additionally, we need 20 lap blankets for wheelchair users, and 70 children sized hats and scarves.

If you need inspiration, please feel free to look around on our blog. We have shared many free patterns throughout the years. Many of these patterns can be found on Yarnspirations.com. They have been a great partner since the very beginning of our formation. And, for the next few days every pattern downloaded from their website Yarnspirations will donate to Warm Up America (another cherished community partner).

Happy Belated Mother’s Day

Published: May 11, 2026 ~ 0

Happy Monday, dear T.H.R.I.V.E. Association family! We’d like to give a belated shout out to all of the awesome mothers in our community! If you are still looking for a gift for the mom in your life, make a tax-deductible donation to our cause in your mom’s honor. All monetary donations go to supporting our cause to end homelessness among our nation’s homeless military veteran community and their dependents. We ship our lovingly handcrafted gifts to VA Stand Downs all across the United States and shipping rates have increased with the rising cost of fuel, so your monetary donations are vital to furthering our mission!

Mother’s Day

Published: May 4, 2026 ~ 0

Happy Monday, dear T.H.R.I.V.E. Association family! Mother’s Day is coming up this Sunday, May 10. If you’re still looking for a meaningful gift for the mother(s) in your life, please consider making a monetary donation in their name. Making a donation to honor your mother, grandmother, godmother, etc. in turn honors the wonderful mothers in the veteran community that we serve. We always look forward to attending local Stand Downs where we can get a chance to speak directly to our underprivileged veteran community. Through the years, we’ve spoken to many selfless mothers who prioritize getting one of our hand made garments to keep their children warm before they’d even considering asking for something for themselves. We’ve met expectant mothers who are thrilled to receive hand made baby buntings and baby clothing in preparation for the blessed event! We’ve spoken to countless veterans who reminisced about their own mothers who also lovingly knitted, crocheted, or sewed for them in their youth and were deeply appreciative of the personal hand made nature of T.H.R.I.V.E. Association’s gifts. Give a gift that honors all mothers!