They’re all driven by the same thought: the hat or scarf they’re making will be sent halfway around the world to a refugee child who needs not only the warmth it will provide to his or her head, but also the warmth it will give to a little heart that needs it.

This year’s Hat & Scarf Drive for Ukrainian Refugee Children living in Romania is underway again, and hundreds of people — mostly women though some men with equally skilled fingers — have sent thousands of their creations to the effort. As of last week, 14,000 hats and scarves paired into 7,000 “sets” have been donated. The bulk of them are already shipped and in Romania or on their way.

This annual drive began three years ago when Baroness Emma Nicholson of Winterbourne, U.K, founder and president of AMAR International Charitable Foundation and a personal friend, asked if I would head up an effort to provide hats and scarves to the children who fled with their families into Romania ahead of the onslaught of Russian soldiers and tanks.

AMAR, whose mission is to help refugee families throughout the world, has a team in Romania who’ve fought child trafficking there for decades. So when the Ukrainian refugees started pouring in, they were already there to help in multiple ways–including this way. They saw that Ukrainian families fled with few possessions, and now winter was upon them. Their need for winter wear was keen. “How can we help them?” the team asked.

That first year our goal was 300 hats and scarves. We greatly underestimated the number of people looking for a way to “… finally be able to help those Ukrainian families.” We sent 3,200 (1,600 sets). Last year’s goal of 5,000 was deluged by the 23,000 (11,500 sets) we collected from individuals plus a few charitable organization partners. This year’s goal is to send 20,000 hats and scarves paired into 10,000 sets. With 14,000 hats and scarves (7,000 sets) already sent, 6,000 more (3,000 sets) will meet that goal by our Dec. 30th deadline.

Our shippers are an essential part of this drive’s success. Daren Tibbitts (a nephew) manages shipping at Juniper Systems, Inc. in Logan. Weekly he and his team box, label, ship, and track this precious cargo, shepherding it through customs. We pay the freight company’s deeply discounted invoice with a generous donors’ funding made through U.S. Friends of AMAR. We couldn’t do this without that donor, Daren’s team, and Juniper’s support.

The core participants, of course, are the “knitters”–those angels who drop off or mail boxfuls of snuggly creations, or call for a pick-up, or organize a group of neighbors or church friends. They know the drill: handmade hats and scarves for children ages 3 to 16, knitted or crocheted with double strands of yarn for warmth. Nearly 300 creators share ideas, view photos, and read updates on our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/hatsandscarvesforukraine

Equally essential are the team of angels who meet at my house weekly to pair the donations, add a note of encouragement, and bag them for shipping.

So here’s a huge “Thank You!” to all who’ve donated, and a sincere invitation to anyone interested to go stand in an aisle, buy some yarn, and join this extraordinary effort. As Emma put it: “We want a real gift from a real person for a real child.” Actually, we want 10,000 gifts.

You’ll be amazed at the warmth you feel when you provide it for a child.