In keeping with our commitment to "pay it forward" we wanted to help out one of our staff (Katie) as her child's school prepares for a fundraiser for Alex's Lemonade. For those who don't know, Alex started a lemonade stand to raise money for childhood cancer. In 2000, when she was 4 years old, she got an idea to hold a lemonade stand to raise money to help "her doctors" find a cure for kids with cancer. She was treated at a hospital here in Philadelphia. This foundation, in honor of Alex's memory, has raised more than $18 million for childhood cancer research. This link can explain more about Alex http://www.alexslemonade.org/As we were talking about all of this during our knitting group we discovered something about one of our volunteers and her involvement in Alex's Lemonade. Hats off to Lucia Herndon our very own volunteer, she says:
"I was a columnist for the philadelphia inquirer and one day received a call from a friend of alex's mother. The little girl was very ill but wanted to hold a lemonade stand to donate money for cancer research. My job was to write about ordinary people doing loving things, so this sounded perfect. i called Liz Scott and spoke with her and later spoke with Alex. a photographer went to her house to take her picture. (truly it was the picture of this little girl with almost no hair left that won people over). the story ran and on the day of her lemonade sale she made thousands of dollars. it launched what would become an annual event, not only alex's stand but around the area. it's now a national fund raising venture and they have raised millions. alex got to see what she had started before she finally died of an awful childhood cancer.
I am proud of much of the work i did in my reporting career. writing about Alex and getting the ball rolling is one of my better efforts. "
Our knitters wanted to think of a way to help through knitting and so we thought making little lemon hats for the raffle at Katie's school might be a way to give back some of what has been given to us. The raffle will be held the beginning of June. Several others have also asked if they can join our "Hats off to Alex" knitting project to knit hats for the raffle. All lemon hats in any shape, size, or style are welcome. One of our ladies suggested that the hats could be made in pink for pink lemonade. I found several lemon hat ideas on the internet and improvised. This week during our knitting group we are going to have our own lemonade party as our hat kickoff begins. Stay tuned!
On the first hat, because the stockinette stitch rolled up so much I put a small rib on the second. We are deciding which works best as we continue our Hats off to Alex lemonhat campaign.
Above and below: brand new knitters. 
Above: a new knitter showing her progression! Below: our social work intern Michelle working on a blanket. Two yarns one black and white striped, the other black. 
Above: Look at this cozy for a water cooler.
Above: a new knitter and below is a college student (also a new knitter) who comes each week to volunteer as part of her classwork who was taught how to knit by our clients.
BELOW: HANGBAG GALLERY FOR THIS WEEK.
This is Linda our nurse who learned how to knit! She finished a blanket below and a scarf above.
Here is Lucia our volunteer. She finished her sweater and is now working on a summer top.
Above: there is a cable design across the top if you look closely.
Above: Zelphia working on a shawl with fancy fringe. Below: Leslie is showing sweater sets she completed. Both Leslie and Zelphia volunteer with us each week.
