Our current address is 1001 Northeast 16 Ave, Gainesville FL 32609. We will be closing on September 23 and reopening on October 9 at our new location:
Wesley United Methodist Church at 826 NW 23rd Avenue, Gainesville FL 32609.
Everyone coming to the sewing center must follow these guidelines: - Wear a Face Mask
- Wash Hands when you Arrive
- Tie Back Long Hair
- Wear Closed Toe Shoes
- Don't come if you are Sick
It's been a difficult couple of years but I believe our strict adherence to these guidelines has kept Covid out of the sewing center. Thank you for your cooperation!
In This Newsletter:
I apologize I don't have time now to write a newsletter. But I wanted to let everyone know that if you would like to sign up to participate in the sewathon at Trinity United Methodist Church, you can simply reach out to Marie to sign up. The google form has not been working right. Please send Marie your first and last name, your email address, your cell phone number, and specify which shift(s) you will work (9:30-12:30 and/or 1:00-4:00). 352 317 6792 samecmm@aol.com
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Trinity United Methodist Sewathon
We started holding annual sewathons at TUMC in 2017 but you all know what happened in 2020 and 2021..... So our fourth annual sewathon at TUMC will be held on September 24th. You can sign up for a morning and/or an afternoon shift. We are taking extra precautions to reduce the risk of spreading germs by requiring face masks, disinfecting surfaces, taking lunch break outside, and hand-washing & sanitizing.
Please share this invitation and flyer with your circles - clubs, faith-based groups, friends, and family.
Please send Marie your first and last name, your email address, your cell phone number, and specify which shift(s) you will work (9:30-12:30 and/or 1:00-4:00).
352 317 6792 samecmm@aol.com
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Sewing Pillowcases for Charity (9/17 & 9/29)_
This Saturday, September 17, Laurie Campbell from "Ryan's Case for Smiles" and Lolly's Sew Shack is organizing a pillowcase sewathon at Celebration UMC. Bring your own sewing machine or use one of Laurie's. There will also be jobs for non-sewists. The 68 pillowcases we made in the spring have been washed and will all need to be ironed.
The event will be 10 am - 2 pm. (Pack lunch) You can RSVP to Laurie at caseforsmilesgainesville@gmail.com.
It will be held at Celebration United Methodist Church at 9501 SW Archer Road, Gainesville, FL 32608.
The Quilters of Alachua County Day Guild is also holding a Community Service Pillowcase sewathon on Thursday, September 29, 9 - 11 am at the Senior Recreation Center. 5701 NW 34th Blvd, Gainesville (just south of Walmart). You will need to bring your own machine but fabrics will be pre-cut ready for you to sew. If you are available for sewing and classes during the weekdays, you might consider joining QACDG so you can attend more of their events.
Both QACDG and Ryan's Case for Smiles make cheerful pillowcases for children and teens in the hospital. Both charities supply the fabrics but if you have any materials to donate, please bring them. Instructions on how to put together the pillowcases will be given at each event.
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 | | I love this photo of Taylor! Three days after completing the beginner sewing machine class with Days for Girls, Taylor sewed SIX pillowcases at the last Ryan's Case for Smiles event. She was only 13 years old. If she can do this, so can YOU! |
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We Are MOVING!
We began 2022 with a collective meditation on acquiring a larger space for our Days for Girls Sewing Center. A few months ago, one of our volunteers suggested Wesley United Methodist Church and as of yesterday, the deal has been sealed! We will be renting two large rooms that used to be Sunday School classrooms - approximately 1000 square feet with good lighting and a sink to keep our hands clean. There will be a mini-frij and microwave for those that volunteer long enough to pack a meal! The location is just 3 blocks west of Ward's at 826 NW 23rd Avenue, Gainesville, FL 32609.
Eventually we envision a large building for the "North Florida Regional Sewing Center" to house Days for Girls and multiple other charitable organizations that use sewing to serve others.
With this move, we are going to increase our space by about 50%. This should help us de-clutter by having a place for everything. We plan to be able to host 15-20 volunteers at a time in our own space and we will also have access to a lovely Fellowship Hall by reservation for sewathons and large classes. We are so grateful to Wesley UMC for partnering with us in our service mission!
What We Need from YOU!
We are looking for rent sponsors. We have been paying a modest rent at Highlands since we moved here three years ago. Every year, sponsors have been covering the cost of rent so we can focus our efforts on sewing and distribution instead of fundraising. Most of the sponsors have been anonymous so we can't name them but we can THANK THEM!! Please know how much we appreciate you!
Our new space at Wesley will cost 30% more but as I said, it is 50% bigger. The good news is that we already have an anonymous sponsor for half the year! AND after the last newsletter, we had one anonymous sponsor step forward to cover one month! Who would be willing to cover the rest? Our new rent (effective October 1, 2022) will be $800 per month. We could use five more sponsors each covering a month or one or two people could cover $4000 so our rent is secured for the next year.
Please contact Radha at 352 316 6113 to make your pledge. You can mail checks to Days for Girls, PO Box 1755, Alachua, FL 32616. Or use Venmo: Karen-Beaty-0 (that's a zero). Please make sure we know that your donation is specifically for rent.
We will also need to acquire some items for our new space. Please let us know if you can donate these items or sponsor their purchase:
1) Vacuum Cleaner - heavy duty preferred
2) Shelving - we plan to purchase more of the same sturdy shelving units we are currently using - once we get the space mapped out we will know how many we need of each size - probably 6-10 more units at approximately $100 each
3) Heavy clear plastic to cover the tables and protect the cutting mats when not in use
4) Signs - we will determine our signage needs next week
5) Realtor's lock box - so we don't have to make keys for everyone that needs to get in
Moving Timeline - Moving Assistance Needed
Here is the Approximate Timeline:
1) 9/18-9/23 Cleaning and building shelving units at Wesley
2) Friday 9/23 is the last day we will be open at Highlands - Drivers needed to haul supplies to Trinity at 5 pm
3) 9/24 is the sewathon at Trinity UMC - all supplies will be returned to WESLEY at the end of the day
4) Sunday 9/25 - WE NEED VEHICLES AND PEOPLE TO MOVE ITEMS FROM HIGHLANDS TO WESLEY Plan to meet at 11:30 am at Highlands to start loading up
5) 9/25-9/30 Finish emptying Highlands and clean, start setting up at Wesley
6) October 1-8 Finish setting up at Wesley
7) Sunday October 9 - Grand Opening of Days for Girls at Wesley UMC
The full logistics of the moving plans are evolving. We definitely need many hands to make this work. Thanks to one of our long-time supporters, it looks like we will have a trailer to move all the big items! We are looking at meeting at Highlands at 11:30 am to load cars and the trailer on Sunday September 25.
Most of our supplies can fit in any sort of car. My guess is that we have not fewer than one million items that need to get moved! The good news is that much of what we have is already in tubs or can be easily packed into our massive collection of suitcases (with wheels) for easy transport. |
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Local and International Distributions
One more thing came out of our new intern training. We have established a committee for Spanish Outreach. Rosanna (from Peru) trained with the interns so that she and Maria (from Colombia) could head up this committee which includes interns who are bilingual. They are working on planning another Beginner Sewing Machine class in Spanish and have already connected us to outreach events where many participants are Spanish speaking. The first one we will be participating in will be in Chiefland on 9/17 - the World's Greatest Baby Shower - for pregnant or new moms.
Rosanna transported 77 kits to our friend Ana in Peru last week for distribution in Chazuta near Tarapoto (by the Amazon River). The kits will be distributed to indigenous people. A special thank you to Liz for sponsoring the panties and soaps! These items are cheaper in Peru than they are here so it makes sense to send more kits and get the panties, etc there. See photo below.
The interns got to practice their kit assembly skills by packing the rest of the order for 200 kits for Mexico. (Plus the 77 for Peru.) They are traveling with Pastor Don Mossa with Faith Presbyterian Church in Melrose to Puentes de Cristo, a PCUSA mission on the border. Thanks to Jeannine, he is also taking clothing for children made by the Little Dresses for Africa group. Jeannine's group makes dresses and shorts for children that are distributed worldwide and help to reduce child trafficking. We often share fabrics between us and consider Jeannine a wonderful partner.
Next on our world distribution plans will be donating 540 kits to Ukraine. They are waiting in our storage unit until the beginning of October when VIRA International will be sending them, along with hats, scarves, and quilts our volunteers have made. VIRA has connections with 100 orphanages, 3 hospitals, and an eco-farm that will be able to make great use of these items. There will be a big fundraising and support festival on October 1 in Alachua. If you can attend, please do! Days for Girls has another event that we are scheduled for on the same day so won't be tabling there but hopefully some of our members/interns can attend in the early part of the day. Here is the Facebook Event invitation: https://www.facebook.com/events/1111499622808562?ref=newsfeed
(We will be at How Bazar 5-10 pm on October 1) |
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 | Please come and support the One Day for Ukraine Community Festival
on October 1!
Our Days for Girls Chapter is donating 540 kits.
Please make hats, scarves, and quilts to add to our donations, too.
17306 NW 112 Blvd, Alachua, FL 32615 10 am - 6 pm |
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 | Rosanna made it to Peru safely and connected with Ana to deliver the suitcase with 77 Days for Girls kits.
Ana will buy panties, soap, and washcloths to add to them before distributing.
Here is what Ana wrote to Liz, thanking her for the donation to purchase these items:
Nice to meet you. my name is Ana Esther, I am Peruvian. I love to serve others, and I appreciate very much the DFG kits. i travel to the jungle of Peru. to places where the women need the kits. thank you for your donation of 100 dollars to buy panties and soaps. the places where i travel is very far from the city, so they will appreciate very much your generosity. i will travel in November and as soon as i have the pictures i will send to our friend Radha.
There is a very big problem in that area. teenagers are having children at 12 and 13 years old. some are having abortions at an early age. that is why we are going to take the opportunity to talk about female physiology, care of our body, risk of early abortion. we will be with a group of mothers and daughters. these kits will be only for teenagers.
God bless you and multiply your resources in a great way.
sincerely
Ana Esther Conde de Gomez. |
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Making Memory Bears for VITAS Hospice
Craft a Memory Bear. Create a Forever Friend.
VITAS Healthcare® is looking for people who love to sew, and who are able to share their skills with hospice patients and families. Free training class will be held on October 15 (1-5 pm) at Days for Girls.
A Memory Bear, sewn by a volunteer with compassion and love, is a forever friend who can ease a hurting heart after the death of a VITAS Hospice patient. Sewn from a favorite pair of jeans, a pullover top, dress, bathrobe or nightgown, a Memory Bear may recall the closeness of a loved one, bring a smile to someone in distress, or offer a sense of security to a child who feels alone after the loss of a parent or sibling.
This is a great opportunity for you to give back to the community. By taking time out of your busy work week you can make the biggest difference in another’s life.
VITAS takes pride in its volunteers, and we welcome you to become part of our team. There are many locations throughout the North Central Florida area you can choose from. Your commitment is completely up to you, whether you spend one day a week or one day a month. Your time is always appreciated.
Please share this information with anyone who may be interested.
Make a difference. Volunteer today. For more information about VITAS visit VITAS.com or contact Lynda at (352) 565.6279 or Email: Lynda.schladant@vitas.com. We look forward to hearing from you!
Additional:
Hospice patient in local facilities could really us your help. Many of them have colostomy bags and in order to help patients maintain some dignity, they would love to have a cover for these bags. Other comfort items are appreciated too. If you are interested in helping, please contact: Lynda at (352) 565.6279 or Email: Lynda.schladant@vitas.com.
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WELCOME NEW INTERNS!
We are so excited to introduce our 31 new interns! They spent 10 hours with us August 26-27 and learned to sew on machines and do all the non-sewing jobs and how to do outreach work and so much more! They also completed the three hour online class "Ambassador of Women's Health" (males completed "Men Who Know"). They watched videos and learned to do online Data Entry for Days for Girls. Becoming an intern includes about 14 hours of training. On top of that, three of these new interns spent two hours training to do advanced rotary cutting last weekend. All of them have already started to serve at the sewing center and will be having their first outreach event this weekend at Critter Creek Farm Sanctuary. Of course they will be a big part of the moving process as we need their youth and strength. Part of their job description as interns is to tell other volunteers about Days for Girls so make sure and chat with them when you come in.
The sweetest part for me is that the training stations were run by interns from past cohorts! Thank you to the following volunteers for teaching the new interns: Karen (sewing class instructor), Hannah R + Lily + Carol N (sewing machine assistance), plus Maria, Alyssa D, Anushka, Luz, & Isabella. And thank you to all the home sewists that rushed to make sure we had enough shields to practice putting on snaps, and enough carry pouches to practice the ironing, and enough flannel strips to practice cutting liners, and enough serged rectangles to make drawstring bags, etc. The logistics of putting on this orientation is amazing and it truly requires everyone's support!
The deadline to apply for spring term internships is January 11 with training to be held on January 13-14, 2023. |
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 | | 31 new interns for Fall 2022 - THANK YOU for your service! |
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Save the Dates
9/17/22 - Free Store at Civic Media Center (outreach)
9/17/22 - Ryan's Case for Smiles at Celebration UMC - making pillowcases for children in the hospital
9/17/22 - World's Greatest Baby Shower in Chiefland (outreach)
9/20/22 - GRACE Marketplace - distribution for homeless people (outreach)
9/24/22 - Trinity UMC annual sewathon
9/28/22 - Santa Fe College Volunteer Fair (outreach)
10/1/22 - How Bazar (outreach)
10/9/22 - GRAND OPENING OF NEW SEWING CENTER!
10/9/22 - Critter Creek Farm Sanctuary (outreach)
10/15/22 - VITAS Hospice Memory Bear Class at DFG
10/15/22 - Free Store at Civic Media Center (outreach)
11/13/22 - Critter Creek Farm Sanctuary (outreach)
11/19/22 - Free Store at Civic Media Center (outreach) |
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2021 Annual Report
Last year we were incredibly productive! We actually distributed more kits and reached more women and served more local women and raised more money in one year than ever before. And we are on track in 2022 to exceed those numbers!
I shared this earlier in the year but here are our numbers for 2021: |
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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 Community Ministry, formerly Highlands Presbyterian Church
Our Highlands DFG Sewing Center will be closing September 23, 2022.
We will reopen at Wesley United Methodist Church on October 9, 2022
826 NW 23rd Avenue, Gainesville, FL 32609
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 Wednesdays as Gopi teaches sewing classes in the afternoons.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1i542hoM7Vlk4VNwk9NIt_lxKh93Qojw50JMUfZtMwtQ/edit#gid=0
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 2022: 144 unique volunteers, total of 1246 hours
February 2022: 396 unique volunteers, total of 1314 hours
March 2022: 99 unique volunteers, total of 1084 hours
April 2022:: 63 unique volunteers, total of 580 hours
May 2022: 56 unique volunteers, total of 991 hours
June 2022: 50 unique volunteers, total of 493 hours
2022 Kit Distributions:
January - August 6 totals
702 local women and girls served with kits, PODS, and/or menstrual cups
1143 women and girls served with kits in Bangladesh, Belize, Bolivia, Colombia, Ghana, Kenya, Mexico, Peru, & Ukraine
(Since we started in 2013, we have made and distributed over 15,000 kits!)
2022 QUILT Distributions:
11 donated to Quilters of Alachua County Day Guild for local charity distribution
8 donated to Ukrainian refugees in Romania
31 quilts donated to surviving children and teens in Uvalde Texas
Currently collecting quilts for children and adults in Ukraine (deadline Oct 6) - we are happy to finish a quilt if you make the top! We also have batting and backing materials if you need.
2022 HAT Distributions:
34 hats given to Ronald McDonald House in Gainesville for children/teens who have lost their hair due to medical treatment
Currently collecting warm hats for children and adults in Ukraine (deadline October 6)
Our Days for Girls Face Mask Numbers -
Over 7200 masks were made and distributed in 2020/2021
Days for Girls International has 70,000 volunteers worldwide.
There are currently 2.6 million women and girls in 144 countries using our reusable, washable menstrual supplies. |
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