Boomer Cap Project

The Boomer Cap project was born August 11, 2006 - the day Andrew was killed. It began with a telephone conversation between two of Andrew's mother's friends wanting to do something that would honor Andrew and help make a difference to the children of Afghanistan - just as he did.

The first cap was knit that night and a pattern was emailed out in the following days asking friends, family and community members if they would like to participate. "There was no thought of how we would get these caps to Afghanistan, we just knew we needed to do this" said Pamela Jolin, one of the project founders. Word spread throughout Soroptimist International Clubs (a service club for women in business and the professions) of which Andrew's mother, Maureen is a member. Soon they, along with many other organizations, church groups and individuals were contributing.

Knit nights have been organized to teach people to knit. Caps are being knit and shipped to the Comox Valley from across Canada, and from Washington, Oregon, California, England, just to name a few places.

The response has been overwhelming and to date 78,000 have been shipped! Along with the caps that have been sent to Afghanistan, caps have been sent to Romania, Uganda, Guatemala, Ethiopia and other parts of Africa. A Soroptimist Club in New Zealand is knitting and shipping caps with their troops. The knitters often share what they are thinking about when they knit a cap. Most say they think about the soldier that will give the cap out and also about the baby or child that will be wearing it, hoping that that babies life might be saved by keeping it warm.

Click Here to download the Boomer Cap Pattern.