Have you been thinking about joining us at the Oklahoma State Fair but just aren’t sure yet? We thought a bit of info may be helpful as you’re deciding…
Registration has begun! It’s free and available online until 5pm on August 15th.
Items need to be dropped off at the fair Saturday September 9th or Sunday the 10th from 9am-4pm. (so you still have over 2 months to make your scarf!)
If you’d like us to drop off your scarves, we’ll be glad to take them for you! Just be sure to register on time and print out your registration receipt, we’ll need that when we drop it off.
Since your scarves will be donated to us you don’t need to pick it back up, but you can pick up your ribbon Monday 9/25 from 2-7 pm or Tuesday 9/26 from 10am-2pm. If you’d like us to pick up your ribbon, we can do that, just be sure to get your receipt to us before pick up time.
We are so excited to be partnering with LuLa Roe Kari Littlejohn this month! In honor of sexual assault awareness month, this business is working to provide leggings to victims of sexual assault.
Kari with a pair of leggings
Wrapped for delivery
The way it works is that you can purchase a pair of leggings and then donate a pair as well. There’s a $10 discount on the 2nd pair that will be donated, so for $40 you can have a cool, comfy pair for you and provide one to be donated!
If you haven’t tried LuLa Roe leggings before, you may be surprised by how soft and comfy they are. I’ve heard so many people say “they’re like butter”. They really are the softest, most comfy item in my wardrobe.
The donated pairs will be delivered to the YWCA in order to be distributed by their staff. A selection of both sizes of leggings will be delivered in order to try to serve as many as possible.
You can shop online for your leggings, or you can contact Kari to make arrangements to shop in person in Edmond. If you don’t live close by, no problem, you can select your leggings online and take advantage of discounted shipping for this project.
To learn a bit more about LuLa Roe Kari Littlejohn and see her announcement of this project, check out her Facebook Live video from April 4th.
In just about a month we have the opportunity to join the YWCA for their annual 2 Minute 5 K. We’ve had a team and a booth at this event for several years now and it’s always a good experience.
If you’re not in the OKC area or walking/running a 5K isn’t your thing, you can sign up to Snooze for SAAM. This lets you still be part of our team and support the event without having to get out there early in the morning.
The event will be April 22, 2017 at Stars and Stripes Park in OKC. There’s a Kiddie K at 8:00 AM and the 5K begins at 8:30 AM.
As the end of the year approaches we’re planning for 2017. We’ve selected dates for the first half of the year and hope you’ll join us as often as you can.
The dates are listed below, we’ll be meeting from 2-5 PM. More info is available on our events page.
Hope to see you at our last one of 2016 on December 4th, and then at as many as possible in 2017.
An idea shared by one volunteer turned into a great event!
Organizers with fair officials
Ribbon awarded to all participants
Top 10 crocheted scarves as ranked by State Fair officials
Top 10 knitted scarves as ranked by State Fair officials
All the scarves donated at the State Fair
One of our volunteers had participated in the Oklahoma State Fair Creative Arts Division competition last year, in addition to all the normal categories she really enjoyed giving to the charity division. In 2015 there was one charity: Infant Crisis Services, participants could donate lots of different baby items to the fair that were then given to the organization.
This Spring she asked what we thought about seeing if Threads of Compassion could be a category at the fair for people to enter. We loved the idea and were so glad to have her contact the fair officials and get the ball rolling. The people in charge were willing to add us and have 2 charity categories this year. In the end three of us worked together to get the proper information to the fair and it happened!
It was so exciting to see Threads of Compassion listed in the booklet for all to see!
We are thankful to have received 36 scarves (11 knitted and 25 crocheted) donated by volunteers both old and new to Threads.
In addition to seeing the great quality of work we also are glad to have so many people who are new to Threads participating with us.
Each scarf was awarded a specially made blue ribbon titled “Fair Compassion”. In addition to that the top 10 in each category was awarded a ribbon corresponding to it’s place as well.
It’s just a few days until our September meeting and I’m really looking forward to it!
Our monthly work days are a highlight of the month for me. Even the months I’d rather get a Sunday nap I’m always glad I went. Some of the reasons include:
It’s a chance to sit and crochet without seeing all the chores that I could be doing around the house 🙂
I get to see my “Threads friends” and catch up on their lives.
Many months I get to meet someone new.
I like seeing all the different scarves that people donate. Some of them are amazing!
I am reminded that as a survivor of sexual assault I’m not alone and others care about offering help and care to others like me who have gone through this horrific experience.
So, yes, some months I really wish I could just hang out at home and fall asleep on the couch for a bit. But, even those months, or especially those months, I come away from our time together glad I went and looking forward to the next one.
We are so proud of our 3 who finished the race on Saturday!
Threads of Compassion had 5 people registered this year in the YWCA’s 2 Minute 5K. Three of them ran and 2 decided to “Snooze for SAAM”. What an encouragement to have these 5 join us this year!
The three in the picture made it out to the event and ran. Our youngest ran in the Kiddie K, while our 2 adults ran the 5K, finishing quite early.
A short way into her race, the little one said “I’m tired of this running thing”. We hear you, kiddo! Sometimes us survivors get tired of the running thing, too. Tired of being reminded of the assault, tired of working on healing, tired of the random moments of fear that seem to pop up out of nowhere, tired of wondering if it will happen again, tired of figuring out how to regain a sense of normal after tragedy, tired of thinking about it all.
Yet, at the end of the race she told us “I ran the whole way, I didn’t walk at all!” And she was proud.
That pride is how we feel about survivors who keep on going. We’re proud that you face another day, that you keep on going even when you wish you could turn back time. We’re proud that you move on, deciding that evil won’t win. Through our participation in this event and through the scarves we make, we are attempting to let you know we’re proud of you and we’re standing by your side.
Saturday’s event was a chance to join together to support survivors. It’s also a chance to remind our community that we can make a difference. Not only can we stand with survivors, but we can work on teaching each other that kindness is valuable, that assault isn’t ok. Five of us have new t-shirts to wear. They’re grey with orange text that says “sexual assault isn’t OK”. We’ll wear them proudly this year as a reminder of a successful race, and as a reminder that we can all work together to support survivors and stop this violence.
To the five who participated this year (and those that joined their fundraising efforts): Thank you!
We’re already looking forward to next year and hope you can join us!
