Pink Raider Knitting Brigade

The Pink Raider Knitting Brigade was created in Fall 2004 (freshmen year). My friends and I collaborated together to raise money for St. Jude Children's Hospital. It was a succesful, and memorable time in our lives where we were able to impact children's lives at St. Judes Children's Hospital by knitting scarves. We took 100% of the profits from selling scarves, and donated it to furthur the research being made at St. Jude Childrens' Hospital. This is an excerpt from a EXL class project, in hopes to turn the Pink Raider Knitting Brigade into a non-profit organization. I learned how to create my own non-profit organization and the benefits of working with a non-profit organization by being a part of the Pink Raider Knitting Brigade.

Pink Raider Knitting Brigade Excerpt:
    After all of the research and guidelines that I developed it was very easy to create The Pink Raider Knitting Brigade and transform it into a nonprofit organization. I have been a part of this group of “Knitters for a cure” for 2 years and we are hoping to leave behind a legacy at Middle Tennessee State University by making it an official nonprofit organization. The past 2 years at Up ‘Til Dawn, we have raised the most funds for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and we have become shaper than a two-edged knitting needle. The creation of this organization will help fulfill our inspired dream from the Founder of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Danny Thomas. And the impact it will make on children faced with incurable diseases will be worth it all.

    I used the help of my guidelines, my research, and our purpose to create our mission statement:

“The Pink Raider Knitting Brigade is dedicated to raising funds, awareness, and compassion to help find a cure for the children of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Inspired by the dream, we are committed to knitting for a cure which can save a young life and make an everlasting impact on a child’s heart.”

 It follows the five easy guidelines provided by Goldblatt & Supovitz and the summary is perfect for The Pink Raider Knitting Brigade’s purpose.
    The logo was used on our t-shirts last semester. We designed it to reflect our vision for the group. I decided to use this part of out t-shirt because it lined up perfectly with the guidelines I established for designing a logo with the help of Michael DiFrisco. It is very simple and readable, but yet it conveys emotion with the phrase: “Knitting for a cure.” I feel like it truly is a “sneak peek” into the organization because of the use of the knitting ball and the curiosity it brings out with the picture and wording combination.
    The Board of Directors were chosen primarily based on the guidelines discussed earlier: no more than 15 members, A vast variety in knowledge, skills, abilities, and other qualities that will benefit the Pink Raider Knitting Brigade, and use the team-based approach (see handout). I purposely appointed two girls and myself as Team Directors & Co-Founders of the organization, to create the team feel I am looking for in the Pink Raider Knitting Brigade. I believe that is important to at least have facilitators for the team. This also explains the reasoning for not having any other titles for the members. I based it solely on their knowledge, skills, abilities, and other benefits. The individual’s description helps to identify these characteristics (see handout).
    I hope to transform the Pink Raider Knitting Brigade into a nonprofit organization so that we can help St Jude Children's Research Hospital find a cure for many incurable diseases in the lives of children. The research and guidelines support used to create a mission statement, logo, and Board of Directors will be very beneficial to the Pink Raider Knitting Brigade. I hope to see our dream fulfilled as we continue to knit for a cure.

MTSU News information on Pink Raider Knitting Brigade:

www.mtsu.edu/~proffice/Record/Rec_v13/rec1315/rec1315.html#Pink