The Lion Brand Yarn Company Makes The Charity Connection

Manhattan, New York- August 12, 2005 — Knitting or crocheting for a cause has always found favor with those with a passion for yarn and needles, but for those needleworkers finding a charity with needs and a mission that matches their interests takes some hunting. Lion Brand has simplified the search by establishing Charity Connection, a virtual directory to hundreds of non-profit organizations. The service located on Lion Brand’s website, http://www.lionbrand.com employs a keyword search to help users find a cause to which they’d like to contribute. Searches can be done by organization name, cause (military, the homeless, domestic abuse, for example), location, religious denomination, project type (preemie hats, blankets, chemo caps) and more. It can also be used to put knitters in touch with other individuals in their area who want to knit or crochet for a cause. Within a week of its launch, more than 320 charities had registered with Charity Connection and 17,500 searches had been conducted on the site.

Charity Connection was developed in direct response to requests from readers of Lion Brand’s e-newsletter. “Lion Brand received hundreds of queries from customers wanting to know how they could connect a group of like-minded people to knit or crochet for charity or to find a place to donate their handmade items for charity,” explains Ilana Rabinowitz, spokesperson for the New York-based yarn company. “We decided to create a place on our website where charitable organizations could be listed and visitors to the site could search for an organization to commit their time or make a donation of craft supplies.”

The listings provide information about each organization, a summary of the items needed, contact information and links to their websites. "As soon as we made the offer to charities to register on our site, we were thrilled to receive not only hundreds of listings, but the heartwarming stories of how the charities got started and what their missions meant to them," says Rabinowitz. "Then we announced the launch of Charity Connections through our e-newsletter and within 4 days over 7,500 searches had been performed by potential volunteers and donors to find a charity to work with. It's a wonderful example of how a website can be used to connect people for a good cause."

Since the launch of Charity Connection, several of the organizations listed have contacted Lion Brand to say they’ve taken on new volunteers. The Lion Brand site also posts free patterns for charity items and allows users to submit a charity for listing or to post and read personal stories from those who have used their knitting or crochet talent to help those in need.

A direct link to the Charity Connection can be found at http://www.lionbrand.com/charityConnection . For more information about Charity Connection, Lion Brand or the charitable organizations involved in the project, contact Ilana Rabinowitz at 1-201-804-3999 or e-mail ilana@lionbrand.com.