I cope with political anxiety through art, and I have long sought to pair creativity with action. As of July 2026, with my crocheted turtles, my customers and I have raised:

• $140.50 for the Marathon Turtle Hospital
• $12.25 for the Occupied Palestinian Territory Humanitarian Fund
• $60 for Heal Palestine

I’m autistic, and my special interest is turtles. In June 2025, I started crocheting turtles, and pretty soon I had a box full. In October 2025, I sold them for the first time at the Heurich House Mini-Markt, with a portion of the proceeds from each turtle going to the Turtle Hospital in the Florida Keys. I’m not affiliated with the hospital in any way, but I love keeping up with the sea turtle patients and the fantastic recovery stories the Turtle Hospital posts on their social media pages. Each crocheted turtle includes a fact about turtles or a nonprofit dedicated to turtle conservation, teaching customers about the ways humans can help protect the endangered and threatened animals.

At the 2025 Fall Festival for the Franciscan Monastery Garden Guild in Washington. D.C. I sold my watermelon turtles for the first time and they were a fan favorite. A portion of their proceeds went to Heal Palestine, another organization I am in no way affiliated with, but wanted to do my part to support. Now my watermelon turtles benefit the Occupied Palestinian Territory Humanitarian Fund. My next project is to make turtles to benefit Ukrain.

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