IBOL / ABOL

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Iraqi Bundles of Love / Afghani Bundles of Love

Started by Art LaFlamme who is serving our country overseas, inspired by his talented quilting wife, Kristin.  From Art's IBOL blog:

I am the son of a quilter, who also made Halloween costumes for us kids.  I am the brother of quilters, who give generously in everything they do.  I am the husband of a quilter, who inspires me every day.  And, apparently, I am helping to raise a quilter, who happens to be the cutest girl in the world.

IBOL / ABOL allows you to clean out your stash (Lysa - I'm talking to you!!) and feel good about it at the same time.  You can pack as much fabric, yarn, sewing supplies as you can into the large international flat rate box and even though it's going somewhere "over there" IT ONLY COSTS $14.95 - because it ships to an APO box (Air/Army Post Office) which is considered a domestic rate.  Over the last two years, I think I've shipped out a total of 20 boxes. An example of a packed box from IBOL website:

And look at the great results from the first drive:

Here's a great description from Art's blog:

I love being involved in IBOL.  I really do.

Yesterday morning, in the skies over Afghanistan, someone pushed a rig out of a perfectly good airplane, and used an airborne delivery to put some IBOL / ABOL bundles on the ground in a remote part of Afghanistan.

Just think about that one for a second.  A guy in Baghdad, on a website in America, working with volunteers from all over the place (and not just in America), sending sewing, knitting and quilting supplies to an air base in Afghanistan, to be loaded onto and dropped out of an airplane.

And here's what happens:

And (unexpectedly) I received this cool certificate in the mail a couple of weeks ago:

Thank you for the recognition, MSG. Lita Fraley!  Thank you Art and Kristin for realizing that it's possible to make a significant difference for women and children through this inspired donation mechanism.  All you have to do is going to the IBOL blog and leave a comment and Art will send you the APO address to send your Love to.

 

Posted via email from lysastrata's posterous