Above: The Sawtooth Mountain Quilters are busy sewing Little Dresses for Africa, a project that brings relief to some of the world’s poorest children and raises awareness of their plight. Right: Dorothy Danielson was one of nine quilters working hard at Crystal Nelson’s home in Grand Marais on March 2.
What’s the neighborhood coming to?
Brandishing pins, needles, scissors, and good ideas, a bunch of sew and sews met in Crystal Nelson’s log home in Grand Marais on Wednesday, March 2 with one thought in mind: How many dresses can we sew, anyway?
So far 40-45 dresses have been completed. “But we’ve just begun,” said Nancy Carlson.
“We’ll sew until our closets are empty,” said Carol Evenson.
Nine of the 15 Sawtooth Mountain Quilters met in Nelson’s lower level for this special sewing event that will benefit some of the neediest children in the world through a growing movement called Little Dresses for Africa. “Little Dresses for Africa is a non-profit 501c3 Christian-based organization which provides relief to the children of Africa,” its website states.
“While in Malawi on a short-term mission trip, a small group of women saw the tattered dresses on these precious children and committed at that moment to do what they could to change things for the little girls in the villages of Ntcheu.”
The person who established Little Dresses for Africa in 2007 is Rachel O’Neill of Brownstown, Michigan. She holds a bachelor of arts degree in sociology and a master’s degree in business and has won numerous awards for her humanitarian efforts, including being named Woman of the Year by the American Association of University Women in 2009.
Many of the dresses go to orphans in remote villages. “Because of the widespread AIDS pandemic, little girls are often left to be the primary caregivers of their young siblings,” the website states. Dresses are distributed in orphanages, churches, and schools “to plant in the hearts of little girls that they are worthy!
“…Along with being something that they all need, distributing the little dresses gives us an opportunity to hold camps and informal teaching sessions to increase their knowledge in nutrition and sanitation and promote good health and family skills knowledge. We also visit the patients who are suffering from AIDS and offer them encouragement and hope.”
Also making dresses to send to children in Africa was Cook County Girl Scout Troop 4141 with the help of leader Malin Aseby-Gesch, Sharon Bloomquist, and other parent and grandparent volunteers. Showing off the pillowcase dresses and pocket dolls they made on Thursday, Feb. 24 are (L-R) Bianca Zimmer, Madison Foster, Shaelynn Novitsky, Lucy Shaw, Aurora Schelmeske, Emma Gesch, Chloe Blackburn, Jaymie Kirk. See more Girl Scout activities next week!
Donations of shorts for boys are also distributed through a “Britches for Boys” project, and other supplies such as food salt, oil, sugar, flour, rice, mosquito nets, and Bibles are distributed through a “Buckets of Hope” program. “To date LDFA [Little Dresses for Africa] has received over 120,000 little dresses (and also britches for boys) from all 50 states of the U.S. as well as Australia, the United Kingdom, Mexico, and Canada. …We have also been able to distribute dresses to countries in crisis when requested, such as Honduras, Guatemala, Philippines, Mexico, and Haiti, as well as right here in the U.S. in the Appalachian Mountains and South Dakota,” the website states.
“Little Dresses for Africa never claims to address all the needs of all the children, but by delivering little dresses to the children, we not only offer relief to those receiving the dresses, but also encouragement to their caretakers, the villages in which they live, people that hear about it, and those sewing or donating supplies or dresses or money. Any time someone helps, it raises awareness of the plight of the little girls of Africa, and awareness is step one in closing the divide. …We’re not just sending dresses, we’re sending hope!”
The Sawtooth Mountain Quilters participate in a charitable project each year. They meet twice monthly at different locations, usually more to conduct business than to sew. Most of the sewing is done at home.
Samples of the dresses will be on display at the Grand Marais Library from March 16 through March 30. More information can be found at www.littledressesforafrica.org Free patterns can be downloaded and kits can be purchased at www.creativekindness.com
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