One of the good things about having a busy blog is that you can use it as a bit of a springboard for important community projects. 'Softies For Mirabel' is a yearly event that started on this very blog, but has spread all across the globe. Fantastic people like YOU make (or rope their friends into making) lovely soft toys for some really fantastic kids, those supported by The Mirabel Foundation.
We live in Fitzroy. It's a lovely, diverse suburb, full of art and life and great food and people from all walks of life. Every single day we see evidence of drug use in our 'hood. Maybe your inner city digs are like mine. Or maybe you live a bit further out and this kind of thing is a bit more 'behind closed doors'. The fact remains that drugs are a huge issue in suburbs all over the world, inner or not. And drugs touch the lives of all sorts of people. Some of those people are kind of people-in-waiting. They are lovely kids who have been born into a difficult life, with parents that are doing their best to juggle their responsibilities and their addictions. The Mirabel Foundation is committed to helping kids who are living this sort of confusing life. We try to help them in our own crafty way each year. Instead of burying our heads in the sand. We try and rally the troops and actually do something.
Some of the Mirabel kids have been abandoned, removed from parental care or even orphaned. All of these kids have witnessed a parent's struggle with some sort of illicit substance. Sometimes it is both parents who have addictions. That's a really tricky path for a child to navigate. I think that the least we can do is try to supply a co-pilot. A handmade kind of co-pilot who can always be trusted to lend an ear and provide a cuddle. Please help us do that. There are 800+ kids being supported by Mirabel. Let's see what we can do. Maybe we could get a softie friend to each one?! That would be AMAZING.
Please take some time to visit Mirabel and see the amazing work they do. The kids they support need a handmade friend to tuck in beside them and chat to. They really do. Maybe you, or someone you know, might be able to help make such a friend?! Go on!
Check out what's being made, what has arrived, what you can make and all the details on how to take part!
Thank you SO much if you have helped this year, or indeed in previous years! The Mirabel Foundation and the kids they support love receiving the toys you make. It's an important part of the work they do, distributing these cute guys. There is plenty of time to make a toy :: more than 6 weeks to go, in fact. So perhaps you might like to get involved. All the details on what to make and what to do with it are here.
Some heart-wrenching, important stories here. If a child can live these stories, we can be brave enough to read about what they witnessed, I think.
xx Pip
PS :: If you really can't craft to save yourself, then you can donate to Mirabel here and help to make a big difference to a great kid.
