Iraqi Bundles of Love — the intro

Check, check.  One, two.  One, two.  Check.  Check.

Um, Houston — is this thing on?

Iraqi Bundles of Love is a short-duration project, set to last about six weeks, originally intended to surge fabric and sewing (and knitting!) materials into the area around which I live in Iraq.  It is timed to coincide with both Ramadan, and the departure of my units from Iraq. If you’re reading this, well — it’s kind of grown. It’s going to help a little bit more of northern Iraq than just the area around where I live.

It is intended to be a simple project, requiring little effort and little expenditures from those wishing to participate.  It is based upon my assessment that sewing fanatics and quilters and knitters tend to have stashes that far exceed their actual needs, and that sewing fanatics and quilters and knitters are passionate both about sewing / quilting / knitting, and about sharing with others.

I originally though success for this project was going to be measured in tens. Somewhere along the way, after folks like Sew Momma Sew got involved (see this and this), I began to think about hundreds. Now, thanks to folks like you, I am planning for thousands.

The general premise is this.  I am in Iraq, and I can get mail through the US Postal System.  Willing contributors can send to me a flat-rate box of sewing / quilting supplies, all bundled up.  I’d open the box, pull out the fully-contained bundle, and hand it off (with others) to our counterparts in the Iraqi Security Forces (Army and others) or the local police, for them to distribute.  Some of the bundles will also be delivered by US Soldiers. The stated intent of this operation is to put sewing and quilting and knitting supplies into the hands of two types of recipients:  locals who desperately need such things, and local sewing co-ops and other small businesses who have received grants or loans (typically to purchase sewing machines, rent space, etc).

That is it, in a nutshell.  I owe you more on how this came to be, on ideas, on things to do and things not to do.  And some links.

To get the address, leave a comment — here, there, anywhere on this site, and I’ll email it to you. If you got the address in the email already, well, you’re all set. I am not posting the mail address to the web, and am asking others to not post it, either (since this whole thing ends in September, and I leave Iraq not long after that). I completely do support you sharing it with your friends and family and guild and others, via email, etc. — just remind them about the 7 Sept. deadline for getting boxes into the mail, and pass to them the information on how to build a bundle.

If you need more information, there are frequently asked questions here and more on what to send / not to send here.

And if you’re from the press, or TV, or the media, or something like that, this page is for you.

Drop me a comment.  Let’s do this!

Tags: APO, IBOL, Iraq, quilting, sewing