Cozmeena Charity Knitting
Wrapping the world in love
Sometimes it’s the smallest gesture that has the greatest meaning. We care for ourselves when we take care of others. That is the core value in Cozmeena Charity Knitting. Random acts of love and kindness paid forward to strangers. And here in the warm and wonderful world of Cozmeena there are no strangers…because ‘all the good people already know each other even if they haven’t yet met.’
Cozmeena Charity Knitting—The Story and Inspiration.
One afternoon in the spring of 2015, an inspired Cathy Alescio came to me and said she wanted to knit Cozmeena Shawls for the homeless teenagers of Covenant House. She had been to a Covenant House event and had been incredibly moved by the stories she heard from the young people in the program. I could literally feel her heartfelt motivation to help these kids in their tragic and obvious need for warmth, comfort and care at the most basic level. While this was a superb idea and the perfect Cozmeena Effort, the Cozmeena Shawl takes 12-15 hours to knit. In addition, because a Cozmeena shawl kit is on the pricier side, I could not afford to donate at that level, but more importantly, you can’t show up at a homeless shelter with just one shawl.
The idea brewed in my mind. I had recently discovered a new yarn and few days later I gave Cathy a skein and I took a skein. We cast on 16 stitches and knit to the end. Low and behold, the Cozmeena Infinity Scarf was born. A soft and cozy hip and cool multicolored gift of warmth and love! It’s style and comfort would please any young person and the Pocket Heart button that is sewn on any Original Cozmeena item lends a unique and inclusive touch of being part of a special community that is based in love.
A large number of friends in Fair Haven wanted to join the cause to knit for Covenant House but the majority of them did not know how to knit. So an experiment emerged.
Cozmeena donated 30 sets of needles and 150 skeins of yarn to this Fair Haven group of friends who met weekly to learn the basic knitting skills needed to make the scarves. Over the summer and fall, they came together to commune, laugh and enjoy this fun, new bonding experience for a local and necessary cause—our young neighbors who were in trouble.
Because each scarf is knit with the recipient in mind, the knitter’s hope, care and love, for their situation, is infused into every stitch. Each time they put it on, they will feel the love and care that went into it and enjoy its soothing warmth and comfort.
Thus Cozmeena Charity Knitting was born.
If you have a civic or service group that is looking for a new way to serve in a heart-felt and meaningful way that is good for everyone involved, consider starting a Cozmeena Charity Knitting Group today.
If you have an charity in mind and would like more information, please email lisa luckett at lisa@cozmeena.com.
The Organizations We Support
Since 1989, Covenant House New Jersey has been providing food, shelter, immediate crisis care, and an array of other important services to homeless, runaway and trafficked youth between the ages of 18-21. Today there are 21 Covenant House locations in the USA, Canada and Latin America serving more than 56,000 homeless young people each year.
Covenant House is proud to be the nation’s largest privately funded agency serving homeless, runaway and at-risk youth with doors that are open 24 hours a day for youth in need.
Seven programs exist in NJ: Jersey City, Camden and Asbury Park, Trenton, Elizabeth, Newark and Montclair. Asbury Park location has been open for 3 years and has served hundreds of youth in Monmouth County. Over 90 youth from Asbury have moved into Covenant House NJ shelters.
100+ Cozmeena Infinity scarves have been distributed to the youth of Asbury Park during the holidays 2015. Additional scarves will be given to the youth found on the streets in the coming winter.
For more information:
http://www.CovenantHouseNJ.org
Facts on NJ Homeless Youth:
https://nj.covenanthouse.org/homeless-youth-the-facts
Mary’s Place by the Sea is a respite home for women who are receiving treatment for cancer, providing services that complement their medical treatment, including oncology massages, nutrition education, individual psychotherapy, Reiki, guided meditation and yoga. Mary’s Place by the Sea is offers integrative services to women with cancer and provide rest and support during this challenging time in their lives.
15 Cozmeena Shawls have been knit with love and care and donated by one woman, Paulette Sutton, for Mary’s Place by the Sea, and will be given in December 2015.
The Center in Asbury Park, Inc., is a volunteer based New Jersey not-for-profit service organization, providing support services for people living with HIV/AIDS and their caregivers. The Center in Asbury Park offers its clients and volunteers a safe haven in order to instill a sense of community and stability in their lives.
50+ Straight/fringed Cozmeena scarves have been donated to the patients of The Center this holiday season 2015.