Halos of Hope and Red Heart Yarns partner donate more than 600 cancer caps to the Valerie Fund’s C

Sept. 1, 2011 - PRLog -- Arlington Heights, Ill. – September 1, 2011 – Volunteers at Halos of Hope stepped up to fulfill the single largest request for hats since the organization’s founding.

The request for caps came from the Valerie Fund’s Camp Happy Times, a free one-week overnight camp experience for children who have or had cancer. For this year’s camp, Camp Happy Times requested medieval-themed hats for the more than 200 campers expected to attend the event.

“Our volunteers went above and beyond to comfort these children,” said Pamela Haschke, President and Founder of Halos of Hope. “Thanks to their hard work, we were able to send more than 600 hand-knit and crocheted hats that included hats fit for kings, queens, princes and princesses, jesters, wizards and knights alike.”

The hats were provided to all Camp Happy Times participants for warmth and comfort during the week’s activities.

“These fun hats are going to make camp incredible for these kids,” said Robin Pritchett, assistant volunteer director for Camp Happy Times. “Each of the kids will be able to feel like they have their very own ‘unique’ costume to fit our medieval theme and provide an extra smile and laugh to the good times we have planned for our 29th annual event.”

In addition to the support of Halos of Hope’s extensive network of volunteers, one of the most trusted brands in yarn, Red Heart Yarns, helped spread the word about the call for caps and provided several patterns for volunteers to work from.

“We were very excited to partner with Halos of Hope to help Camp Happy Times,” said Carrie Leahew, Consumer Marketing manager at Red Heart Yarns. “We make all of our yarns with love so our crafters can make the very best project possible. Extending that love to this group of children is exactly the type of end result we hope for all our yarns.”

To learn more about Halos of Hope and how you can volunteer to make caps, visit www.halosofhope.org.

About Halos of Hope
Halos of Hope is a not-for-profit organization committed to providing in-need cancer patients with crafted hats donated by caring volunteers. The organization was started in October 2007 by Pamela Haschke, a survivor of a rare breast cancer with a high mortality rate, and provides caps to more than 350 cancer treatment centers across the United States. People interested in learning more about volunteering or donating to the efforts of Halos of Hope, or cancer centers in need of our assistance, can visit www.halosofhope.org to learn more.

About Camp Happy Times
For almost 30 years, The Valerie Fund has operated Camp Happy Times, a free one-week overnight camp experience for children aged 5-21 who have or had had cancer.  Nearly 200 children each summer attend Camp Happy Times located at the two-hundred acre Tyler Hill Camp in Wayne County, Pennsylvania.  Tyler Hill is fully accredited by the American Camping Association and Camp Happy Times is a proud member of the Children’s Oncology Camping Association International.  More information about the Valerie Fund programs is available at www.thevaleriefund.org.

About Red Heart Yarns
Red Heart® is one of the most trusted brands in yarn.  Celebrating our 75th Birthday in 2011, more people have chosen to make heirlooms using Red Heart yarn than any other yarn.  Red Heart yarns stand for quality, largest color selection, fashion and above all else, crafted with love.  Whatever your creativity calls for, you’ll find it in the Red Heart family.  Explore our vast selection of yarns, booklets and free patterns for all skill levels.  A little bit of love woven into every strand.

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Ours is a simple mission to comfort those living through the painful, hair-loss side effects of chemotherapy & radiation. Our national network of volunteers handcraft comforting hats and caps, which are given to treatment centers across the country