A Very Thoughtful Idea

[t001xa22]

I thought I would share this idea with the members here. This was suggested by a very compassionate turner in another pen forum, and I think it has a lot of merit. A link to a directory for various hospitals has been included in this turner's message.





A use for pen blank left overs...

If you've ever wondered what to do with those left over little bits of pen blanks, there's a good way to put them to use. The wood turning store I frequent in the Dallas area has a little bowl next to the cash register full of beads made out of those left overs.

These beads are made by the customers and brought to the store which then take the beads to children cancer treatment centers for a program called Beads of Courage. Every time a child gets a treatment, they are given a bead.

There are hospitals all over the US and Canada, and several other countries. Here's a link,

Beads of Courage - Arts in Medicine for Children with Serious Illness

If you take a look, I'm sure there's a hospital near you. I try to take some beads with me every time I go to my wood store.

The beads are easy to make. I just drill a 1/4 inch hole instead of a 7mm, put four or five on the mandrel at a time, and put a slimline bushing in between each bead. The beads can be wood, plastic, acrylaster, trustone, antler, anything you would have left over from a pen blank.

I was recently at a hospital and saw a little girl with a string of these beads that was almost ten feet long and she was holding them like they were gold.

Just thought I'd put the word out to anyone who might be interested. ​

 

[wood-of-1kind]

Thanks for posting this. A very good cause and a very useful use for those small end-cuts that we all get from pen blanks.

I have specially made mandrels to do these small beads and they are so easy to make (beads).

 

[Glen Schumann]

I like the idea but I have some of problems: 1) nearest woodworking store is two hours away, 2) nearest participating hospital is one hour awa, 3) neither the site link above or their link to the participating hospital give any info on how I might directly particiapte. If someone can fill in the hole maybe I can join in. Thanks.

 

[t001xa22]

Glen, those are very good points. I just shared the info directly, and did not delve into it too far. I will try to dig up more info on it. Thank you.

After checking into the Program website, I found this section that gives specific info on donating the beads themselves. The group recommends not sending the beads directly to the various hospitals; the Program folks do the packaging and distribution.

http://www.beadsofcourage.org/pages/beaddonations.htm

I hope this helps. I am looking forward to going through my large stash of cut-offs and generating some beading.

 

[KenV]

There are also turners and woodworkers who make boxes to hold the beads. These are not to be gallery works of arts but rather a place to hold kids treasures. And in this case, those are beads.

If you cannot use the "wood working store" approach, there is a long list hospitals that includes every state -- and those hospitals will make sure beads or boxes get to kids.

 

[RonSchmitt]

Bill,
Thanks for sharing this. I have a TON of scraps that will now be turned into beads and taken to Childrens Hospital in Milwaukee.

 

[flyitfast]

Are there any recommended shapes and sizes for these beads? Sounds like a 1/4" hole works best.
Since they go on a long string, don't need large ones overpowering smaller ones.
Thanks for posting and this will be posted at our club here in SA.
gordon

 

[Gregf]

The CBS Morning Show had a segment on Beads of Courage.
Beads of Courage - CBS News Video

The bead holes just need to be big enough to easily string.
1/8 or larger.

 

[Super Dave]

This is a great idea, I have a huge box of cut off's. Any idea on the best way to finish these? I checked their web site, but didn't see anything.

Dave

 

[juteck]

What a great idea. I hadn't heard of this before.

The preferred hole size is 3/32" or larger.

They also accept lidded bowl / turned box donations for storing the beads.

Sent from my iPhone using Forum Runner

 

[Glen Schumann]

Glen, those are very good points. I just shared the info directly, and did not delve into it too far. I will try to dig up more info on it. Thank you.

After checking into the Program website, I found this section that gives specific info on donating the beads themselves. The group recommends not sending the beads directly to the various hospitals; the Program folks do the packaging and distribution.

www.beadsofcourage.org

I hope this helps. I am looking forward to going through my large stash of cut-offs and generating some beading.

Thanks for this info. It's very helpful.