Monday, December 6, 2010

Project 2

Crayon Holders


For children in Sub Saharan Africa!


For project 2 we will be sewing crayon holders (super easy & adorable) to donate to Orphan Support Africa, an amazing organization that supports the vulnerable children in Sub Saharan Africa. Many of the children that will be receiving your donation are orphans and I know they will treasure this special gift!


A little information about Malawi, the country that will benefit from the crayons-
--45% of Malawi's population is less than 5 years of age
--There are approximately 70,000 HIV positive children less than age 15.
--Increasing levels of poverty and the impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic have contributed to the high number of orphaned children, of which there are currently an estimated 1,050,000 in Malawi


The crayon holders look complicated, but are very easy to put together! For a tutorial please see the link here to a blog called the Pleated Poppy. The writer gives a list of supplies and a great step by step guide to sewing a crayon holder.

With Christmas right around the corner, the deadline for this project will be February 15th. Start sewing now & email us at imsewinghope@gmail.com with any questions.

Thank you & happy sewing!

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Pillowcases and Smiles!

Last week, I loved receiving these in the mail

And was humbled to see the pillowcases stack up on tabletop

after tabletop

All in all, if we lined up the pillowcases we received, we could span an entire football field. Amazing!

We delivered pillowcases to every oncology patient

AND

Every single chronically ill child in the hospital. This included patients with Cystic Fibrosis, Bone Marrow Transplants, Juvenile Arthritis, Diabetes, children on dialysis with chronic kidney disease and many others. I was unable to take pictures today, but hope to have some by the end of the week that I will certainly post! I can't wait to share the smiles on these precious kids faces!

We even left many "extras" for the Child Life staff at Children's to use as birthday presents and other treasures throughout the year. They are also planning on using many of the adorable Christmas pillowcases in the Sugar Plum Shop.

The Sugar Plum Shop is Children's way of empowering parents by providing access to free toys and gifts during the holidays when they may feel especially powerless about the fact that their child is spending time in the hospital. The shop is open Christmas Eve and Christmas day for patients in the hospital to still enjoy a bit of Christmas magic.

I am humbled to see what the Lord is doing with this ministry & appreciate each of you for making it a success. Please see the post about Project 2- crayon holders for orphans in Malawi, Africa! Keep up the good work & Merry Christmas!