There’s a really cool Kickstarter campaign going on right now that has gotten a really huge response. The Ricefield Collective is a partnership between Meredith Ramirez of Ithaca, N.Y., and the women of the Ifugao region of the Philippines. The women there are traditionally rice farmers, but it is difficult to make any steady income on the small plots of land they farm.
Ramirez grew up in the Philippines and came up with a plan to teach women there to knit and to sell the items to help them stay on their ancestral lands.
The original goal for the Kickstarter was $24,600, enough to buy supplies to launch the group’s first collection — which features designs by Anna Maltz and Stephen West — and get it shipped back to the people who wanted it. As of this writing more than 900 people have pledged more than $56,000 to the campaign, so the new goal is $85,000, which would allow the group to establish a permanent base of operations in the Philippines.
People who donate will receive a pattern collection, items knit by the collective and other goodies. The Kickstarter is open through April 19 if you’d like to help. It’s so cool to see knitters spreading the love, helping other women and quite literally changing the world for the women in the Philippines.
[Photo via the Ricefield Collective.]
Good post, keep up the good work… Two things I like about the post, one it is straight forward and two it does not attempt to promote anyone’s position particularly. Well put Sarah.