CHRISTMAS IN JULY

St. Anthony’s begins collecting scarves for the holidays at Renegade Craft Fair

This year, Christmas really will begin in July, as San Francisco historic non-profit St. Anthony Foundation begins collecting hand made scarves as well as pledges to knit scarves at the Renegade Craft Fair in San Francisco. St. Anthony’s hopes to collect a few thousand scarves by Christmas, which will then be handed out at St. Anthony’s well known Christmas holiday meal to guests of the St. Anthony Dining Room.

The official scarf drive will kick off at the San Francisco Renegade Craft Fair http://www.renegadecraft.com/san-francisco on Saturday July 31^st and Sunday August 1^st at Fort Mason Center. St. Anthony’s monthly underground knitting club, the Scarving Artists, have already received pledges for more than 100 scarves, and have already received more than a few richly colored, thoughtfully knitted items. The first 250 scarf pledges will receive a canvass tote knitting bag and an invitation to return with their hand-knitted items at the Renegade Craft Fair Holiday Show taking place on December 18-19 in San Francisco.

St. Anthony’s will also host a “how to knit for the homeless” workshop at the fair and will invite people to be a part of their social justice flash-knit-ins which take place throughout the city.

Each year, St. Anthony’s offers some gift of comfort to those who come to the 60 year old foundation for a Christmas meal. This year, St. Anthony’s is reaching out to the city of San Francisco’s craft artists to help provide some holiday warmth and cheer to the disenfranchised by pledging hand-made knit scarves which will be given out on Christmas day at the St. Anthony Dining Room.

Renegade Craft Fair in San Francisco is free to attend and is one of the seven fairs throughout the United States that Renegade Handmade is hosting this year. The Bay’s favorite craft, art, design and DIY spectacular will feature over 225 of today’s finest indie-craft talents from all over the nation.

St. Anthony Foundation’s programs help heal individuals and families with programs that provide a gateway out of poverty, including a Dining Room which serves 2600 meals every day, a free clothing program, a technology lab,  residential drug and alcohol recovery program, and a free medical clinic. St. Anthony Foundation does not accept any federal, state, or local government money for its programs, and is entirely funded by private donations.

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Saturday July 17th from 10am to 12pm-the St. Anthony Scarving Artists are meeting again for a morning of knitting and jazz, at 150 Golden Gate Ave. Learn to knit and help us reach our goal to knit 2500 scarves by Christmas!

And forward very quickly. We are already receiving scarves from all over the bay area….nearly 100 so far and pledges for another 257. Pictured is the newest scarf just recevied in the mail and one sure to make its recipient smile. Thanks Marguerite in San Francisco…can’t wait to see the other two scarves you’ve pledged!

Interested in knitting a hand made scarf as a Holiday gift for one our guests at St. Anthony Dining Room? Click here to participate!

“Knit 2500 scarves.  By hand. By Christmas.”

That’s the idea behind St. Anthony Foundation’s Holiday Scarf drive planned for this year’s Christmas Celebration. We want to give every guest who comes to us for a meal on December 25th to leave with a brand new, hand knitted scarf to keep them warm for the following winter months.

We’ve got a lot of work to do in the next six months to insure that all our guests get these thoughtful gifts by Christmas. We’re still undecided on what to call this outreach of crafty support, that’s why we’re reaching out to you.

Have an idea of what to name it? Leave your naming idea in the comment’s field below by Monday, May 31. We’ll take the best name’s a present them on the blog to be voted on soon!

Download: PDF Flier with more information. Please feel free to email it to your friends and family and encourage them to participate as well!

Update: The votes are in! This project will be known as “Scarving Artists”. Thanks for the suggestion, Bill S.!