Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Interfaith Ministries, New Charity to Sew for in Harrisburg

We have caught up with Pat's needs for her street ministry, Light House Ministries! When she picked up her 523 pieces this week, she suggested we sew for some other charities since her winter needs are now completely met. Well done!!! We did it!!!

So in addition to Salvation Army and Morning Star, we will add Interfaith Ministries to the list of charities we sew for. Interfaith Ministries is the ONLY family shelter in the Harrisburg area, and they have many needs, too. I spoke to Brenda Peck, Director of the Interfaith Ministries yesterday and confirmed the list of what she needs, in the order of their importance and urgency to her: blankets for babies, toddlers, twin size beds, etc. (they need the blankets all year long because it gets chilly when the air conditioners kick on) slippers, all sizes (the shelter residents are required to wear either shoes or slippers at all times -- NO bare feet!), tote bags to carry their toiletries to the shared bathroom, laundry bags to hold all their clothes, sweatpants for children and adults, especially helpful to pregnant moms as their size continues to change. They also have ongoing needs for dishtowels, hot pads, towels, wash clothes/wash mitts, children's clothes (all sizes), shorts, summer and winter modest nighties and pjs, and ponchos. She also made a special appeal for baby bottle brushes to give to each mom so the babies aren't sharing cleaning tools (and possibly spreading germs between families), and all the personal care items you can think of such as toothpaste, shampoo, deodorant, etc. They also need pots and pans to give to the families when they are able to move into their new homes.

In February, you can choose what you want to sew -- there's a lot to choose from! Don't forget to take a look at the list of needs for Salvation Army, and of course, Morning Star always needs more baby blankets.

In March, we will hold our second annual Sew Much for Charity, so we won't be getting together in my home that month. We will all need to sew on our own time, in our own homes, and bring what we make for March to the Sew Much for Charity event.

In April and May we will sew the 90 tote bags for Salvation Army's Summer Day Camp. I have 79 tote bags here, all cut out and ready to sew (thanks for your help, Sue!). The dye in the denim fabric crocked off on my fingers as I was cutting them out, so we need to wash and dry the bags in the dryer (to set the dye) after they have been constructed so that the dye doesn't come off on the kid's wet shoes and clothes. It would be a real shame if the dye ruined their belongings.

We have had a fantastic and fun 2007! Thank you all!!!

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