There is a nonprofit organization called Pink it Forward. The group of 4 women have been impacted by breast cancer. With 3 of them having beaten breast cancer, they wanted a way to Pay it Forward for other women battling the disease. They send out free care packages to women going through treatment. They raise funds to cover the costs of the care packages & shipping. One of the care packages is a hand-made tied fleece blanket. This past Friday, they held 2 “Wine and Tie” events (in Bismarck & Fargo). Volunteers brought 2 yards of fleece and were treated to wine & appetizers & more wine.

I asked my friend, Jessie to come with me to tie blankets. I also notified my co-workers of the event and had 2 more friends show up, Kristi & Charla. The 4 of us made 7 blankets in just 3 hours. We visited, had some wine & even tied some extra blankets with fleece that people donated (people who weren’t able to attend the event). Charla even won a door prize. I’m not sure how many blankets were made total, but it was a nice table full.

I love this organization & what they do. It’s such a wonderful idea… to pay it forward to other survivors & let them know that they have a sisterhood supporting them. It’s not just women though. There were men at the event – so “shout out” to the dudes making tie blankets with us!

When you finish treatment, it’s common to want to help others. This is a great way to do that.  If you know someone going through treatment and want to help them but don’t know what to do, send them one of these care packages. It costs you nothing & will make their day!  When you are going through this yourself, people mean well by saying “let me know what we can do for you”. Let me tell you from experience, they won’t tell you what to do for them because they don’t know. They are just trying to exist, keep it together, make it through appointments, treatments, keep working, keep the family “normal”, try to balance it all etc. They most likely won’t call you on a random Tuesday & ask you to make supper. Just bring them something. Who would turn down a meal that’s ready to go or to freeze for later? Um, probably nobody. Just do it. 99% of the time, you will be making their day – trust me. I was soooo thankful for everyone who brought meals during my treatments and recoveries. I hear people say, “But I’m not a good cook” – you know what? Olive Garden lets you order take out, and most places do. Pick up a meal if you don’t cook – your recipient won’t care. They will just be relieved that it’s one less thing to worry about. Ok, that was a bit of a rant, but you get the idea.

Thank you to my friends for coming to make blankets with me on a cold January Friday night. You are making the day of 7 ladies whom you will likely never meet. How cool is that?! Maybe next year we will have an even bigger group! I plan on helping my 2 boys make tie blankets for Pink it Forward this summer. Visit http://www.pinkitforward.net to learn more about this cool group of ladies!