When people ask me about Patrick's cancer diagnosis I typically end it the story the same way. "We are lucky and we are thankful." Some people have certainly responded to that with shock. But that's exactly what we are. We are thankful. 

We are thankful that Patrick was seen in an Emergency Room that listened to his symptoms and realized it was something serious. Many families are brushed off which delays diagnosis. 

We are thankful for the nurses, doctors, child life staff, and everyone else that made sure  that Patrick was not only cared for medically, but also socially and emotionally. 

We are thankful to all of the people that reached out to offer assistance. 

I could go on, the list is quite long. 

So, why do I bring this up now. Well, we are heading into November. Over the past few years we have seen people head to social media to say what they are thankful for every day. I think it's great, we have done it as well. This year we are doing something different. 

Yes, we will still post what we are thankful for, because the list continues to get longer. 

this year I would like to also share other organizations that are in need of assistance. Most of these will be organizations that accept hand crafted items, though some may just be there for good measure. 

If you have an organization to suggest, please feel free to let me know. I'd be happy to add them to our posts. 

So, here we are at Giving Tuesday. This is a day where Non Profit Organizations around the country will flood your email with requests for donations, and of course.... so are we!

We are proud that we have very few costs surrounding PatPat's Hats. Our costs involve:
- laundry detergent
- Hat Storage (Zip Lock Bags and Storage Bins)
- Informational Tags
- Shipping
- Website costs

How can you sponsor a hat delivery?

Make a donation to PatPat's Hats

$10 - Sponsors a donation of 10-15 hats
$25 - Sponsors a donation of 25-40 hats
$50 sponsors a donation of 50 hats

When we donate your hats to a non-profit organization, your name will be on the donation. This will allow you to receive the tax letter for you records.



If you have any questions about sponsoring a delivery, please feel free to email AuntBetsy@patpatshats.com

It is September, and therefore it is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.  We are more than aware of childhood cancer. We live it. We see it. We know it. We see childhood cancer every day. 

My goal this month is to share ways that we as a community can take action. Things that we can actually do to help and support the Childhood Cancer Community. 

I hope that as a community we do more than share awareness. I hope that as a community we can do things support this community. 

Recently I have seen a lot of posts about the Kindness Rocks Poject   It has been very popular in my hometown. As we are heading into Childhood Cancer Awareness Month I started thinking, what if we could do the same to spread awareness for Childhood Cancer.

Even sounds pretty cool doesn't it? So, here is what I'm asking. 

Pledge to place rocks
- Tell us how many rocks you pledge to place, and where they will go. 

Find Rocks
- Go out and hunt for some rocks

Paint Rocks
- Each Rock should have a Gold Childhood cancer awareness robbon
- Once your Ribbon is on the rock, be creative, make it look beautiful. Make someone smile when they find it 
- Each Rock should have the Hashtag #AwarenessRocks
- If there is additional room, maybe add another hashtag, or a message.
#PatPatsHats
#ShareAPicture
#FindAcure

Place Your Rock
- Place your rock in a place where it will be found. 
- Public Parks
- Schools
- Bike Trails

 How many Rocks do we want to place? 

Those of you that follow us on social media have seen me post about the Click For Babies campaign. I wanted to share more about this project and how you can get involved here on our site. 

I LOVE how they put it on their website: 

Make 1
Tell 2
Donate 3 !!

If you make 1 hat and tell 2 people, that means 3 hats will be donated!!!

Please be sure to check out their guidelines. They have some wonderful suggestions

All of the participating states are on their site. You can send your purple hats directly to the facilities. Since these are infant hats I can tell you that you can get a LOT of hats into a flat rate box, so if any of you live near each other, think about that. Those of you in the Boston area, email me at AuntBetsy@PatPAtsHats.com we can get a couple of boxes together to send to the New England area facilities. 

If you feel so inclined as to include something about PatPat's Hats in your shipment, we would of course appreciate it. Do you have to? Of course not. 

Some of you may know that our family is most definitely an "artsy" family. We play instruments, we sing, and we love the theatre. Recently a show opened on Broadway called "Come From Away" and my heart grew.

The show takes place in Gander, Newfoundland on 9/11/01 and the 5 days after. On 9/11, 38 planes with 7,000 people and 19 animals were stranded in Gander and the surrounding towns. The people of this town, about 9,000 of them, banded together to help host these people.

The people stranded were scared, alone, afraid, and they didn't know when they would leave. The people of Gander opened their homes and their hearts to these people.

When I started listening to the soundtrack I was brought back to my own fear from 9/11. I was in. North Carolina, aunt Jenny was in Orlando, my parents were in Connecticut with my grandfather that was ill, and Rebecca (Patrick's mom) was actually on a cruise.

I've mentioned this before, but I had purchased my first set of knitting needles just 3 days before at the Michael's in High Point, North Carolina. I struggled with a knit and a purl while I stared at the news.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago. Aunt Jenny founs a wewbsite for the town of Gander, and came across the Gander Beanie I knew that I had to make hats for the cast.

So, I started knitting, and I knit a lot of Gander Beanies. As I was knitting them I realized that I also wanted to give back to the town of Gander, I wanted to thank them for what they did, I wanted to let them know how much I appreciated them telling their stories. I wanted to let them know that there are still people out there just like them.

While I knit these hats I started looking for places to donate hats. When I delivered the hats to the cast after seeing the show (yes I saw it, no I won't tell you anything baout it because you have to see it for yourself) . The cast actually helped me find womewhere to donate the hats.

When I first listened to the soundtrack I heard the song "blankets and bedding". The people of the town are thinking of all of the things that these people might need because they are stranded. I was brought to tears at the first listen. Why you ask? Because of all of you. Because that is what YOU all did for my family.

I am usually the person arranging food, bedding, transportation. It was ACTUALLY my job for many years. But when Patrick was diagnosed, it was all of you. It was the community that surrounded us. "What can we do? What do you need? How can we help?"

The Sunday after Patrick's surgery I had to stand up in front of the North Madison Congregational Church and tell them what had happened. I was surrounded after service. Surrounded by love, support strength, and people that wanted to help.

Before we left their was a meal train, there were prayer chains, their were phone chains. In this world that we live in right now it is hard to remember that there ARE people who will open their doors. Their are people that genuinely want to help.

So, for anyone that is wondering "why are we sending hats to Canada" It is because I was inspired by this production.

If anyone would like to help us with shipping of this batch of hats (or any batches for that matter) we do have a GoFundMe

We want to thank you, and the cast of Come From Away for all of their inspiration

What did you do on your 21st birthday? For me, I went out with my sister. We were going to the same college and lived in the same dorm. I was in rehearsals for a show and my sister took me to a bar down the road that had a special that included 21 hot wings and a bottle of champagne. 

Why do I mention 21st birthdays today? May 6th 2017 would be Henry's 21st Birthday. Henry's dad was my production manager for 2 years. I knew Henry as an adorable boy that would arrive at the theatre with his mom. They would come down to have dinner with dad during long rehearsal days. 

I left that job, and years later met up with a mutual coworker in the tiny world that is theatre. He let me know that Henry had been diagnosed with brain cancer. A few years late I learned that this beautiful boy was no longer with us. 

When Patrick was first diagnosed I called Terry. He was the first person to tell me to look for good signs and he gave me hope. 

The Cermak family started a hero fund through St Baldrick's 

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I get asked this question a lot, What kind of yarn do I use? Also, sometimes I don't get asked this question and we discover that the hat that was donated is not really usable for us. 

So, What kind of yarn should you use? I would say that you should stick to a few guidelines. 

First and foremost all hats must be machine washable and dryable. Many of the places where we send hats require that hats are machine washed and dried prior to donation. This ensures that the hats are free of allergens. If you tell us that your hats have been washed, we may wash them again. 

Before the hats are donated the hats are washed in dye and fragrance free detergent. 
Machine Dried
Placed in a Zip Lock Bag. 

Not sure how to tell if your hat is washable, check the tag on the yarn: 

I understand that many people love crafting with beautiful wools, and I certainly do not want to discourage that. There are many charities that accept wool hats, and you should certainly consider knitting for them. 

All of our hats are being sent to children, most of them are going through chemotherapy. This means that they have very sensitive heads. Please consider the texture of your yarn. 
If it doesn't feel soft, maybe use it for another project. If you aren't sure, try knitting a small swatch and throw it in the wash, sometimes yarns show their true texture after washing. 

ALong with being soft, some yarns get really "pilly", you know what I mean, those ugly balls that show up? If you've knit with something that pills, sometimes not great for a hat. 

Why? Well, when you go into the hospital fo chemo treatment, all of your clothes have to be washed again once you get home. They even recommend washing it 2 or 3 times. If a child gets a slight cold, yup, into the wash again. A lot of laundry gets done, if your hat it the favorite, it's going to get washed a LOT. 

We donate hats to children of all ages (preemie to teenagers). Try and include lots of colors and designs. We love colorful hats and designs. If you aren't sure, drop us a line on Facebook, we'd be happy to help you out!

​After reading an incredibly accurate post, I hope to share ways that you can take action. Maybe it is selfish for me to say "How can you help us" ... but, I will do it. 

Make Hats:

We accept hand made washable hats. 
We Accept sizes preemie to teen

Where do you send your hats? 
You can send them directly to PatPat's Hats Central
PO Box 318
Westbrook, CT 06498

(Please include your name and address, we want to be sure to send you a proper thank you!) 

Donate Hats Locally
Cut out the middle man, donate hats directly to local organizations in your area!
A few things to keep in mind: 
- Be sure that the organizations accepts hand made goods (some do have policies)
- All of our hats must be machine washed and dried prior to donating. 
​
Fill out THIS FORM and we will be sure to send you the labels to include with your hats

What, you can't make hats? Not a problem. There are othe things that we need to keep PatPat's Hats up and running

​USPS Flat Rate boxes
- These boxes allow us to ship hats all over the country.
- By using the flat rate boxes the shipping is already paid 
- Large and Medium boxes are fantastic for us. 
- Boxes can be sent to PO Box 318 Westbrook, CT 06498

Zip Lock Bags
- All of our hats have to be placed in bags after they are washed and dried
- you can send your hats to PatPat's hats Central
- PO Box 318 Westbrook, CT 06498

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Gift Certificates to VistaPrint
- We include a small card with all of our hats. These cards let ou recipients know about PatPat's Hats. 
- We find Vistapint to be the most affordable.

Amazon Wish List
- We do have an amazon Wish List. This list includes supplies that we need, and items can be shipped directly to us. 

GoFundMe
- You can donate to our GoFundMe Account using THIS LINK
It takes us an aveage of $5 per hat to ensure that our hats reach children across the country. 
You can help us spreadwarmth.