The Knit-a-square program has inspired volunteers in more than 60 countries to knit and crochet more than 1.5 million blanket squares, hats, hand-warmers and toys. Your efforts are helping to keep the children warm but to keep this operation running every day, we need to extend your love and support.
Your donations are the backbone of financial support for the operations on the ground in South Africa, making it possible for them to continue.
Whether it's helping to pay the rent, a stipend for the gogos to sew blankets, fuel for the KasVan or to cover postal charges of $3.75 US per parcel, you make it possible to keep striving toward warming and comforting the children.
Our goal is to remove the monthly deficit that Ronda and her team have to deal with.
You can:
1. Make a donation whenever you are able.
2. Sign up for an ongoing monthly donation (subscription).
3. Shop at the KasShop!
Please follow this discussion for monthly updates, current financial reports and ideas on what we can all do to help.
Replies
I hope all KAS supporters will try to send a monthly donation even if it is small. A drop in the ocean can really add up if a lot of people help.
Monthly donations give financial stability and help take the worry off the wonderful volunteers.
If you ARE a monthly donor, perhaps could we increase our donation by even $2 or so?
Let's Use Our Stash and Send The Cash! Maybe for the month of July?
Finances for March and April 2026. A note from Ronda:
"According to the April trial balance, and for several months now, we have been spending each month far more than is coming into KAS via PAYPAL.
Nett loss for the two months of this financial year already shows as R26,300 odd.
I will be away for 10 days in Zimbabwe from Friday 8th but will urgently sit down with Peter to see how we can reduce costs going forward.
The rate of incoming post has been dismal this year, although in April it did suddenly leap up by 100% to over 4000 squares.
Jan – Mar averaged about 1900 squares each month.
We have distributed around 600 blankets so far this year and the shelves are pretty bare, with around 350 blankets out with the gogo groups.
We have needed to ask one or two gogo groups to just hang onto the completed blankets until we have more bags ready to go out, and each group is fortunate to receive 2 or 3 bags at a time.
Portia, who only last year was taking 9/10 bags (of 9 blanket packs) each time, is having to wait until we can collect 4 or 5 bags for her gogos.
We have no soft toys to distribute, but are handing out hand puppets in the meantime."
Thank you for this update Andrea, much appreciated. Disapointing figures and sad for Ronda, the gogos, as well as the children. Hopefully the next quarter will be better. Fingers crossed.
I have sent a parcel last week containing 16 toys (from memory), a few hand warmers and of course, squares. Oops, and some hats gifted from my sister.
I have forgotten to 'pay my way' so I will visit the KAS shop tomorrow. I confess to not having been a regular $ donor these past 18 months ( or more). Our Aussie $ has been abismal against the USD for such a long time. I kept saying I'd wait til it got better, so have only been contributing when I send parcels, pretty much.
Me too Bev. I like to pay my mail recovery costs as I mail the parcels, as my memory is rubbish if I leave things too long. I think we can all admit to feeling the pinch in this tempestuous period of time.
These days the Squares List regularly shows that the majority of parcels come from the UK, which must be because we are one of the few countries who can still send by surface mail. I'm sure the cost of postage is the main reason for the bare shelves. No answer to that I'm afraid.
Finances for February 2026.
Finances for January 2026. We've started the year off right.
Finances for 2025. There was an auditor's bill in September which resulted in a big loss but we bounced back and things are stable.
Finances up to the end of August. Despite that red line, the finances are stable.
From Ronda:
"I am just letting you know that, with so few of us in the Barn these days we are a bit snowed under and getting behind on parcel opening, photographs, reports, sewing of labels on the blankets and all that.
So we decided to come in on the odd MONDAY as well.
Being well aware that holding KAS twice a week obliges double costs, I’m hopeful that this will happen once or twice MORE – Aug/early Sept."
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