Our address is 1001 Northeast 16 Ave, Gainesville FL 32609. We have had a few people get horribly lost. I think that GPS does an auto-correct sending people to SW Gainesville. Try typing NORTHEAST instead of NE when typing in the address.
In This Newsletter: - Chapter Meeting
- Sewathon Saturday
- Internships and "Meet & Greet"
- Sewing Quilt Blocks on December 4
- Sewing Instructors Needed
- Distributions All Over
- Local Distributions
- Guidelines for Groups at DFG
- Sewists Needed for Paying Coop
- Sewing Machines Available
- Unusual Fundraiser with Amazon Products
- The NUMBERS
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Internships with Days for Girls
We are blessed to have so many wonderful interns helping us to do outreach work and run the sewing center. Now is the time to apply for spring semester!
In fact, we are holding a new (or potential) intern "Meet and Greet" right after the sewathon this Saturday at 3 pm at the Days for Girls sewing center. (1001 NE 16 Ave, Gainesville 32609)
For those that can't attend in person this weekend, there will be an alternate date on ZOOM on Wednesday.
Topic: Days for Girls Intern Meet and Greet
Time: Nov 17, 2021 01:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/94105231826?pwd=VmxqQzNvUkhVTWI5bjlGclhydzVJZz09
Meeting ID: 941 0523 1826
Passcode: ULX1vK
This "Meet and Greet" opportunity is your chance to ask questions about what you will be doing, get paperwork signed for school, and get inspired to support this worthwhile mission. We will discuss expectations and make sure this is a good fit for all of us. If you haven't already, you may want to talk to your advisor about how you can get school credit for this work. Experienced interns will tell you that a DFG internship is eye-opening, inspiring, and incredibly educational in more ways than you would guess! And you might discover a new hobby while you are at it! (Beginner sewing classes are part of the internship.)
New interns should SAVE THE DATE - Saturday January 8 - for orientation which includes learning all the non-sewing jobs done at DFG so that you are competent to teach others. Interns will also need to take the Ambassador of Women's Health class online (https://www.daysforgirls.org/ambassadors-of-womens-health-training/) and complete the Beginner Sewing Class we will offer again next semester. These hours typically count toward your school hours requirements.
If you are interested in becoming an intern next semester, just email your resume and cover letter to alachuafl@daysforgirls.org. See job description below: |
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Sew Something New! 12/4/21 Event For years now I have been saving long strips of flannel left over from rotary cutting liners. I do most of the cutting of two yard pieces of flannel that our volunteers cut into liner squares and hot zones. I am so strategic in my cutting that typically only an inch or two of flannel is left over when I cut those strips.
But I still didn't want to waste that little bit of fabric so now I have a HUGE bag of these strips. Thanks to the Quilters of Alachua County Day Guild, I learned how to make some really cool blocks from those strips that can be assembled into baby blankets to donate to needy families. Anyone with beginner/basic sewing skills can learn to make these blocks. And I will be teaching this on Saturday December 4, 2:00-6:00 pm at the sewing center. Come for an hour or two or four and help us reach a goal of making 100 of these blocks, enough for 4-6 baby quilts. Bring your own sewing machine if you can, or use one of ours if you can't. RSVP at alachuafl@daysforgirls.org. If we get enough blocks done, I'll teach you how to layout and assemble the quilt top. It will be a fun and relaxing afternoon. Be sure to save the date! |
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 | | Here is a sample block made from flannel strips. What is wonderful about this block is that the strips are stitched together using a newspaper square as a foundation so they don't stretch and distort. It doesn't matter how wide the strips are or if they are straight or crooked. Anything goes. It is very relaxing to assemble these blocks because they are 100% forgiving! After piecing, they are trimmed with a rotary cutter (and those scraps will go to fill dog beds). We will be making 10 inch blocks (plus 1/4 seam allowance all around). |
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 | | This is an example of what you can do with these blocks. You can create unique designs depending on how you put them together. This photo is of four 6-inch blocks that I made in an hour during the training class offered by www.qacdg.org. |
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Sewing Instructors Needed for Spring Semester One of the many services we offer to the community is our beginner sewing classes. We guide inexperienced individuals through a step by step curriculum that we created so that they become competent straight line sewists. They practice these skills sewing pockets, liners, and ultimately a drawstring bag - in just three hours. Anyone that knows how to sew and enjoys inspiring others through teaching could become one of our volunteer instructors.
Sewing instructors choose the dates and times convenient to them. We post it on our Google Sign Up Sheet, and people sign up. Typically classes have 2-5 students. You can teach just once in a semester or once a month or once a week if you like! Many participants are young adults (college students) but we also have well-behaved children over age 8 (with a parent) as well as older adults attending. Our classes have been grant funded in recent years so we have not charged a fee to attend since 2016.
If you know how to sew, we will teach you how to teach this class. Tentatively planning to teach the teachers on Saturday, January 8th. Please email if you are interested in becoming a Days for Girls Beginner Sewing Instructor (whether or not you can attend on January 8). alachuafl@daysforgirls.org 352 316 6113 (Radha Selvester)
Teaching new people to sew is a win-win for everyone. Graduates of our classes are asked to volunteer at least 9 hours over the course of the semester. Some borrow sewing machines from us and help by sewing components at home. Others come to the sewing center to volunteer. Either way, we all win! |
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 | | These college students attended the beginner class a couple of weeks ago. They had no trouble mastering the sewing of liners thanks to Karen's great teaching skills! |
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Distributions All Over
We kept sewing throughout the pandemic even though international travel had pretty much come to an abrupt halt for more than a year. But our patience has been rewarded. Look at what we are doing as we approach the end of 2021:
PERU - Michelle & Daryl are going this weekend and are bringing 445 kits to give to Ana to distribute to the Wampis people along the Amazon River next year. Ana would like to have 1000 kits for her expedition so if anyone else is going to Peru, please let us know and we will send you with extra suitcases. Ana will meet you at the airport in Lima and we will pay for the extra luggage costs. Because panties, washcloths, and soap are so much cheaper in Peru, Michelle will be buying those items in Lima. This meant that more kits could be fit into the suitcases. 445 kits fit into 6 suitcases.
TEXAS/MEXICO - Thanks to Louise from Melrose, we were able to send 60 kits we had ready to go with Spanish instructions to Caly in Hidalgo, Texas. Her organization, the Presbyterian Border Region Outreach, works with 5 communities just south of the Texas border. https://presbyterianborder.org/ PBRO does many wonderful things to support and empower people that are waiting to enter the USA or have decided to stay in Mexico after fleeing terrible situations in Central and South America. Caly teaches health education which will now include the Days for Girls Ambassador of Women's Health curriculum. And PBRO also teaches sewing. Are you thinking what I'm thinking? They may be in a position to apply to become a Days for Girls enterprise in Mexico. Mexico has just one DFG team near Guadalajara - no enterprises. Wouldn't it be nice to help PBRO get one started?
SURINAME - is a small country on the northern coast of South America. Our SCSEP volunteer Mavis is going to visit her family there soon and will be taking four suitcases of Days for Girls kits. Mavis completed the Ambassador or Women's Health training and plans to make connections for distributions, and possibly future enterprises, while she is there. Suriname currently has no Days for Girls teams, chapters, clubs, or enterprises. Thank you Mavis for bringing DFG to the people of Suriname!
LOCAL DISTRIBUTIONS - are still going strong! I'm leaving the following article in from the last newsletter in case you missed it. |
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Local Distributions
We have been fortunate to receive several grants this year to support local distribution efforts. Thanks to the UF Assembly for Action, The Women's Giving Circle, and The Kotranza Family Fund, we have been able to distribute DFG kits and menstrual cups freely and offer scholarships to 60 volunteers this year so they can take the beginner sewing classes at no cost to them. We are currently looking for new sponsors for 2022 to keep up our local distributions. We had pledged to reach 180 women this year and are currently at 472! WOW!! Aiming to reach 600 in 2022 - what do you think?
Local women appreciate the fact that by using reusable washable pads, they will:
1) Save Money
2) Reduce Trash
3) Be Healthy using Comfortable Cotton instead of Bleached Paper
4) Have Peace of Mind that they have What They Need for 3-10 years
5) Manage Incontinence, a very common issue for older women We have tabled at, and were incredibly well-received at multiple events including: - How Bazar
- Critter Creek Farm Sanctuary Moo-Ket
- Santa Fe College Volunteer Fair
- NAMI Walk and Mental Health Event
- Human Rights Coalition Event
- Children Beyond Our Borders event at the Iglesia Hispana
- Hare Krishna Community Yard Sale
- Keep Alachua County Beautiful Clean Up Event
- Rural Women's Health Project with Mobile Outreach Clinic Hispanic Health Care Event
The next phase of local distribution for us is working with partner agencies. If your nonprofit/government agency would like to give out PODS (Personal Objects of Dignity - basically a sample with one shield and two liners and instructions), please email alachuafl@daysforgirls.org. Our goal is to work with 25 local agencies to give out these samples. If your participants try them and like them, they can contact us to get full kits and/or menstrual cups as well. |
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 | This is what our PODs look like. There is a cute little drawstring bag holding a shield with two liners, a care & use card, an instructional brochure, and we will have a half-page insert that invites recipients to contact us to receive a full kit or menstrual cup. We are looking for 25 agencies to partner with us by giving these out to their participants. Email alachuafl@daysforgirls.org for more information. |
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Happy cats - Oreo and Bowie - because they received beds from Days for Girls. Thanks to Karen, all of our itty bitty cotton fabric scraps are used to stuff bags made from donated fabrics that are not suitable for our Days for Girls components. We gave out more than a dozen dog/cat beds at the Critter Creek Farm Animal Sanctuary. Yes we mostly make menstrual supplies and face masks - but we also make beds for fur babies!
And coming soon - blankets for human babies from flannel scraps! |
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 | In spite of an abundance of rain that caused problems with mud and fire ants, our Chapter distributed Days for Girls items to 51 women at the Critter Creek Farm Sanctuary Moo-Ket.
This group of ladies was especially excited about receiving their kits. |
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Supporting Navajos
Coincidentally, today - October 11 - is Indigenous People's Day as well as the International Day of the Girl. Last month, our Days for Girls Chapter put together 240 kits for members of the Navajo Nation in Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico. We are partnering with a local Quilters of Alachua County Day Guild member, Teresa Barrand, to get the kits to the Navajo Nation along with other vitally necessary supplies. Teresa is working on the logistics but its good to know we are supporting Native Americans along with local people and girls and women around the world.
QACDG - Quilters of Alachua County Day Guild
Speaking of the Quilters' Guild, QACDG is a local nonprofit that preserves the heritage of quilting and related arts for individuals in North Central Florida through inspiration, information, and education. They just celebrated their 18 year anniversary. They have very generously donated fabrics to Days for Girls on multiple occasions. If you are interested in joining the Guild, it only costs $25 for the year and allows for participation in multiple "Bees" and monthly free classes. If you have taken our beginner sewing class, you are "skilled enough" to join the beginner quilting classes. I currently attend both the beginner and the "beyond beginner" classes and learn something new every time (and I have been sewing for more than five decades). Interested in learning more? Go to: www.qacdg.org. My favorite part of the Guild is the fact that members make quilts, tote bags, and pillowcases that are donated to 14 charities each fall. We are talking about HUNDREDS of exquisite items to bring joy into the lives of folks going through a rough time - at a shelter, in a hospital, in a group home, etc. |
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How Groups Help Days for Girls
Thanks to more than 50 different student, faith-based, and interest-based groups, Days for Girls really "feels the love" with so much support. The pandemic has forced us to do things a little differently, but we still really appreciate all the work that volunteers from various groups offer. Here are the updated guidelines for group participation: |
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Sewists Wanted to Join a (Paying) Coop
Our Days for Girls Chapter is partnering with the How Bazar in several ways. These include tabling at their monthly outdoor events and having them distribute our PODs in their store once they get settled into their new location at the end of the month. But we are also going to be working with How Bazar to provide sewing services on the clothing that they sell. And that is where YOU come in!
The How Bazar is a new worker/artist-owned clothing boutique. They sell vintage clothing and remodel and redesign used apparel to create one of a kind pieces. They are partnering with our Chapter so that our experienced sewists can provide the actual sewing services on these clothing items and How Bazar WILL PAY the sewist for their work. They will also give a small percentage of those wages to Days for Girls. This is a way that some of our volunteers could earn a little money - for themselves and Days for Girls. It would also be possible for someone to do these clothing repairs and donate their wages entirely to Days for Girls, but the How Bazar vision is to support local sewists and artists.
We are looking to create a coop or listing of sewists that would like to participate in this project. Please email alachuafl@daysforgirls.org with your name, email, phone, and skills/experience so we can start this in November. Can you sew? Serge? Use an embroidery machine? How Bazar will direct us what to do with the clothing so we need to know who specializes in which skills. A long-term vision of this coop could potentially be offering sewing services for a fee to other organizations and individuals.
To learn more about How Bazar go to: https://www.facebook.com/thehowbazar/ |
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 | Annie and Rachel at the How Bazar outdoor vendor event where we distributed kits, pods, and cups to 81 women! |
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Sewing Machines
We have quite a few sewing machines. We really appreciate how members of the community have donated so many. If we had our own large building, we would be able to keep all of them set up. But due to space limitations we only have a few set up at any given time. We currently have 4 or 5 good sewing machines that are in cabinets that we would like to pass onto volunteers so they can sew at home. This would help us reduce crowding and provide a volunteer with a way to sew at home. Who would like to "adopt" a sewing machine? alachuafl@daysforgirls.org |
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Unusual Fundraiser
Our Days for Girls Chapter just received a donation of several thousand dollars of free items from a product reviewer for Amazon. We can sell the items to raise money for Days for Girls. Below you will find a list of the items and their retail prices on Amazon. We are looking for donations of at least 10-20% of the actual value - so great deal for you and a donation for Days for Girls. Please let us know ASAP what you would like. Feel free to share this with others that may be interested. |
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Hours of Operation
North Florida Regional Sewing Workroom
"The Sewing Center"
1001 NE 16th Avenue, Gainesville, FL 32609
East Entrance of Highlands Presbyterian Church
Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays: 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM (Drop in Hours)
Evening and Saturday hours are by appointment: We are often open on Mondays 4:00-6:30 but ask you to sign up as there are some Mondays where our lead volunteer is unavailable.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1i542hoM7Vlk4VNwk9NIt_lxKh93Qojw50JMUfZtMwtQ/edit#gid=0
Shear Center
2400 SW Williston Road, Gainesville, FL 32608
Southwest United Methodist Church
Wednesdays: 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
By Appointment Only - call by Monday - minimum of 5 people required
Michelle Belanger 352 318 1164
Melrose Workroom
2738 SE CR 21, Melrose, FL 32666
Faith Presbyterian Church - Across from Circle K
Wednesdays, 10 am - 12 noon |
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Our Days for Girls Chapter Numbers
Volunteers:
January 2020: 84 unique volunteers, total of 393 hours
February 2020: 246 unique volunteers, total of 1027 hours
March 2020: 76 unique volunteers, total of 467 hours
April 2020:: 28 unique volunteers, total of 262 hours
May 2020: 24 unique volunteers, total of 521 hours
June 2020: 28 unique volunteers, total of 304 hours
July 2020: 28 unique volunteers, total of 331 hours
August 2020: 21 unique volunteers, total of 222 hours
September 2020: 42 unique volunteers, total of 270 hours
October 2020: 47 unique volunteers, total of 340 hours
November 2020: 24 unique volunteers, total of 192 hours
December 2020: 13 unique volunteers, total of 122 hours
January 2021: 28 unique volunteers, total of 405 hours
February 2021: 52 unique volunteers, total of 371 hours
March 2021: 101 unique volunteers, total of 667 hours
April 2021: 30 unique volunteers, total of 199 hours
May 2021: 28 unique volunteers, total of 195 hours
June 2021: 29 unique volunteers, total of 330 hours
July 2021: 42 unique volunteers, total of 333 hours
August 2021: 43 unique volunteers, total of 444 hours
September 2021: 87 unique volunteers, total of 750 hours
October 2021: 163 unique volunteers, total of 953 hours
2020 Kit Distributions:
100 kits - Kenya
100 kits - Cuba
100 kits - Guatemala
100 kits - Cuba (eastern)
100 kits - Peru
60 kits - Honduras
100 kits - Venezuela
20 pods - USA (local)
18 kits - USA (local)
6 HF kits - USA (local)
60 kits - Guatemala
60 kits - Honduras
180 - Mexico (refugee camp)
200 pods - USA (food distribution)
27 kits - USA (local)
300 kits - International (Christmas boxes out of Pensacola)
700 kits - Lebanon
27 - USA (domestic violence shelter)
10 - USA (local)
2021 Kit Distributions:
24 kits - USA (local)
5 kits, 13 pods, 12 cups - 23 women served - USA (local)
1000 kits - Chad (Africa)
33 kits, 15 pods, 21 cups - 49 women served - USA (local) Keep Alachua County Beautiful event
120 kits - Zambia
49 kits, 4 pods, 14 cups - 51 women served - USA (local) Hare Krishna Community Yard Sale event
30 kits, 6 pods, 9 cups - 36 women served - USA (local) Human Rights Coalition event (15 were Spanish)
8 kits, 3 pods, 6 cups - 11 women served - USA (local) Children Beyond our Borders event at Iglesia Hispana (mostly Spanish)
3 kits, 8 pods, 6 cups - 11 women served - USA (local) Sewathon
14 kits, 1 pod, 1 cup - 15 women served - USA (local) NAMI Walk
12 kits, 1 cup - 14 women served - USA (local) Spanish sewing class
19 kits, 24 PODS, 17 cups - 55 women served - USA (at DFG during June, July, Aug, Sept)
40 kits to 40 women in Colombia
29 kits, 9 PODS, 9 cups - 41 women served - USA (at Santa Fe College)
28 kits, 19 PODS, 17 cups - to 51 women - USA (Critter Creek Farm Sanctuary)
2 kits, 7 PODS, 1 cup - 9 women served - USA (at DFG)
20 kits, 44 PODS, 32 cups - 81 women served - USA (How Bazar)
(240 kits to Navajo Nation - pending)
(will update this section in the next newsletter)
Our Days for Girls Face Mask Numbers
6896 masks made in 2020
plus 305 made in 2021 equals 7201
3/24-4/1/20: 444 masks
4/2-4/9/20: 807 masks
4/10- 4/16/20: 1128 masks
4/17-4/24/20: 450 masks
4/25-5/1/20: 481 masks
5/2-5/9/20: 599 masks
5/10-5/16/20: 377 masks
5/17-5/23/20: 242 masks
5/24-5/30/20: 243 masks
5/31-6/6/20: 233 masks
6/7-6/16/20: 244 masks
6/17-6/30/20: 417 masks
July 2020: 318 masks
August 2020: 280 masks
September 2020: 264 masks
October 2020: 115 masks
November 2020: 137 masks
December 2020: 155 masks
January 2021: 130 masks
February/March 2021: 175 masks
We stopped counting, but did give out 200 masks to the Farm Workers Association in September 2021.
In May 2021, we started making masks again to give out at local distribution events.
If you would like to make more cotton masks, you can pick up pre-cut supplies at the sewing center to sew at home. Or you can sew them at the center.
Days for Girls International has 70,000 volunteers worldwide.
There are currently 2.1 million women and girls in 144 countries using our reusable, washable menstrual supplies. |
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