Baby Love Blanket Drive

Crafty/Creative Families! Get out your knitting needles, crochet hooks, or quilting tools...your love is needed. October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, a cause near and dear to my heart. Ayla Birth is hosting a handmade blanket (as well as other items) for babies exposed to domestic violence. After working with families who had experienced domestic violence, I am more than happy to participate in and pass on the information about this drive:

Baby Love Blanket Drive
What is the Baby Love Blanket Drive?
The Baby Love Blanket Drive is a 2 month long, charity craft-along (Oct- Dec) where people in Portland, Oregon (and beyond) will knit, crochet and quilt blankets for newborns in need.

In addition to blankets, we are now
accepting: Baby Clothes, Baby Toys, Hats, Mittens, Socks, Shoes, Scarves & Slings. If you have a large amount of non-blanket items, please call (503) 809-1721 for pick up.

Who Benefits?
YWCA Yolanda House and the the Foster Closet
All of us at have seen the price babies pay in the Northwest when they are exposed to domestic violence, abuse or neglect. We can't save them, but we can give them comfort and we think you can too.

Why are we doing this?
In 2007, five doulas decided to help keep babies warm over the winter by sponsoring a handmade blanket drive for the Portland area. In 2008, Willow Birth ran the drive and Ayla Birth has taken over the drive for 2009. Regardless or who runs the drive each year, the mission is always the same: comfort for those in need.

Why handmade blankets?
We believe that an item made by hand and with love is more valuable than a store bought one, and we believe that all babies deserve to have something special made just for them. Each of us has the power to create something lovely, but if we band together, we can create a thousand lovely things, a thousand loving hands creating comfort for newborn life. Of course, any item that you personalize with love is
handmade, so if your idea of handmade is a bit of embroidery or a fleece kit, we
welcome those too!

Blanket Requirements:
Size: Any standard size
baby blanket size
Fiber: Any machine washable fiber
Weight: Any
Deadline: 12/20/09

Where do I drop off my items?

The Knitting Bee
18305 NW West Union Rd.
Portland, OR 97229
(503) 439.3316

Twisted
2310 NE Broadway
Portland, OR 97232
(503) 922-1150

Designer Yarn
38871 Proctor Blvd.
Sandy, Oregon 97055
(503)
826-0123

By Mail:
Baby Love Blanket Drive
4408 SE 67th Avenue
Portland,
OR 97206

Warm Baby Blessings,
Anne Lenzi
The Baby Love Blanket Drive
President, Ayla Birth – Community Doulas
(503) 809-1721

And...if you enjoy the company of others while you click away with your needles, join us at Nurture's Knit~Together group. Check back soon for details or join our e-village and join the group now.

New and Improved e-Community Space!

(painting courtesey of Johanna Wright)

We have found an even better on-line community space, our e-village. A special thank you to Dre from Swap-n-Play for introducing Ning to us. If you haven't discovered Ning, you should check it out; it is like Facebook, forums, web and blog rings, and more all in one!

Please join our nurturing on-line community and find a place to tend to your heart, mind, and body, a place to create, learn, nourish, and grow within a supportive group of families.



We have a virtual tour of Nurture, a special space for each of our groups, this blog feeds right onto the home page for news updates and more, and there is a forum for discussions, questions, suggestions, ideas, and sharing resources. Wow! It is so exciting and will be such a great way to connect; I am very pleased and think you will love it!

Introducing Nurture's E-Center!

I would like to introduce our newest Nurture offering...our e-center forums.

I have been a member of a couple of mother-focused forums and have really appreciated the connection, ideas, and support I have received on them...especially during the times in my life when getting out was difficult or late at night as I held my infants to get them back to sleep (typos are welcome on our board!). And because Nurture is all about supporting mothers and families, I wanted to create a space that would extend that support beyond our building, a space that can be accessed anytime.

So, here it is, after months of researching the best way to provide an e-space, it is up and running. I hope it grows and becomes a space where families can find support and community...an e-village, if you will.

We have several categories up, and suggestions are, of course, always welcome...there is even a suggestions forum to provide a place for you to share your ideas or needs for both the e-center and Nurture the center. I hope that you will join us!