[squirrely girl]

one year for our philanthropy round we made tie-dye (sp?) t-shirts and our new member class took them over to the local JDF chapter to give to the kids there (or you can also save them for a diabetes friendly trick or treat or easter egg hunt!)

to accomplish this, we had each member of the chapter purchase a pack (or two depending on chapter size) of three white undershirts in childrens' sizes from someplace like wal-mart or k-mart and bring them to work week. this cut down on chapter costs. otherwise the supplies are pretty inexpensive --> dyes, a pack of rubber bands, a couple boxes of rubber gloves, 3 plastic disposable bowls for each of the colors you use (usually red, yellow/buff, and green!!!!!), and some home-made aprons with AGD letters on them to protect the guests clothes

the chapter members had professionally made tie-dyed shirts to match but it isn't a necessity.

if there was still down time after dyeing the shirts, the sisters and guests also made cards for the kids or checked out the scrapbook for the previous year.

i really liked this project because it's a good way to emphasize that the lives of children with diabetes don't completely revolve around food and not being able to eat sugar, that they also are just regular kids, and they like regular gifts. plus tie-dye is pretty darn cool!

just a thought...