I am a wife, mother of 3 sons, daughter, sister, friend, nurse and 2 time cancer survivor. Yes 2!! If I can fight so can you!

I started CYC after my breast cancer diagnosis ( May 2003) in January of 2005. Since then we have been fortunate enough to help so many others in the Puget Sound area and now have 3 chapters nationwide.

In my mind starting CYC was a way to help my mobility of my arms and get together with what I thought would be about 10-12 ladies once a month for chatter and needles clicking. I sent out an "are you interested" email at my work within The Everett Clinic and received over 80 responses. I now have over 200 volunteers registered.

Each month we pick an agency in need and send out ideas for patterns. You can make one item or many. It is up to you. Some ladies only make the same item all year, this is great too. I don't want anyone bored. Many members send me ideas for a group close to their hearts, we even made pet items for local animal shelters. So you see we are open to all creatures great and small. Our first project was to make chemo caps, I received 175! We have been able to donate them to three cancer centers during the past year.

We have 2 local knitting shops where we meet to get together and plan on having pot luck knit ins 3 times a year.

I have received some community awards too.... One from The Everett Clinic, One from Bank of America called Neighborhood Champion, One from a local radio station KMPS as their charity of the month in October.

CYC can be done in your area too. Just call around, all communities have charitable organizations that need donations and this is a fun way to contribute within your own neighborhoods. The idea of giving hand made items makes each gift more special.

All our items are sent with a gift tag with the creators first name. I am so proud of all my volunteers! I could not do this without them or my family to support me.

I am once again fighting cancer with metastatic disease to my lung. I am currently having chemo and I am there with my knitting needles in hand. So keep knitting and crocheting. I have lots of donated yarns and needles and hooks. Contact me if you need anything and enjoy. The idea of this group is no stress, lots of love and to give back to those in need.

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Nan Sarb
Community Yarn Creations