Some of the highlights since the last update include:

Tina, Colette and Laura were invited to give a presentation on Days for Girls and Busy Hands to the Altrusa International of Mexico, MO.  It was a great adventure with a bonus of some great bargains on fabric at several guilt shops.

Sharing Hearts were delivered to DePaul Hospital and St. Anthony's for use in the NICU.  DePaul hospital is also using them to comfort families at the loss of their baby.   We now have a choice of two different cards to furnish with the Sharing Hearts.

2018 ended with us being able to donate 100 walker and wheelchair bags with matching cup holders to Medicaid nursing homes in North County St. Louis.  They were a surprise Christmas gift for the residents.

Greetings Volunteers & Donors!

Do you have a few extra minutes to spare or some extra fabric to share? A little generosity goes a long way when it comes to sewing for charity. Our primary purpose is to use our God-given skills to serve the needs of others through our crafting talent and supply an outlet for all volunteers to take part no matter their skill level.  We strive to work as a group during meetings and individually at our homes. We continue to be self-funded and rely on the generous donations of our members and others.  

We continue to meet on Thursday mornings at 9:30 a.m., as often as possible.   The monthly evening meetings continue on the 3rd Tuesday night at 7:00 pm.  Please feel free to invite friends to come with you or join in by working at home.  

Over the summer we have been able to: 

• Brought 61 DFG kits to Fond Blanc Orphanage in Haiti and Livingstone, Zambia! 
• Fine-tuned the Angel Gowns and bonnets pattern for donated wedding dresses!
• Connected with The Meadowlands nursing home allowing them to complete packing on Mini-blankets and Sharing Hearts!
• Delivered over 150 bibles and 5 boxes of Christian literature to Love Packages for overseas distribution!
• Sewed 48 pillowcases for Foster children
• Sewed bedrolls, comfort pillows, blankets, hats and Sharing Hearts for Children's hospital
• Collected bags of fabric scraps to fill dog beds sewn by one of our members.

 

Busy Hands 4 All Priority Plan for 2018-19

Our 2018-19 crafting will focus on helping Days for Girls, SHARE pregnancy and infant loss center, New Hope Resource Center at Morning Star Church, a Medicaid only Nursing Home and local animal rescue agencies.  We may add charities as a need arises.

1. Days for Girls - We are pursuing outlets in the USA, possibly Indian reservation or Prison ministries. We plan to temporarily convert to a component group focused on making quality shields and liners and offer them to other chapters who are in need. The kit components we have will be used for future kits for Haiti or another mission trip.
2. SHARE - We will continue to make Angel Gowns from donated wedding gowns or purchased fabric for distribution by SHARE in Missouri.  We are pleased to announce that 18 gowns were delivered in September!
3. New Hope Resource Center at Morning Star Church - We have been requested to supply them monthly with tulle scrubbies and dishcloths (knitted or crocheted).  We are also seeking knitters and crocheters to fill their request for prayer shawls.
4. Medicaid Nursing Home Christmas Project - We will be supplying a nursing home with walker bags for 28 women and 14 men.  We are collecting personal hygiene items, gifts and small things to be used for bingo prizes.  
5. Animal Rescue - This is our outlet for leftover materials. We will make dog beds from donated sweatshirts or sweaters and throw pillows, dog toys from jeans and tennis balls. Please continue to save your fabric scraps for the pet bed filling.
6. Love Packages  - We are continuing to collect Bibles and Christian books and materials to be sent overseas via Love Packages in Butler, Ill.

Areas being researched - Thestreetpeople.org - make washcloth hygiene kits for distribution; make foster care children bags with pillowcases and hygiene kits.

We are discontinuing the following projects until a need arises: Teeny Tears mini blankets and hats, Sharing Hearts,  

knit/crochet preemie hats & Children's Hospital bedrolls and comfort pillows 

Materials Needed for the 2018-19 Projects 

• Fabric for walker bags - cotton, duck cloth - Urgent
• Personal hygiene items - combs, nail polish, lotion, etc 
• Dead tennis balls for dog toys
• Old sweaters and sweatshirts for dog beds
• Old throw pillows for dog beds
• Dark flannel for DFG liners
• Dark printed cotton for DFG shields
• Heavyweight Tulle or produce bags for scrubbies
• Cotton yarn for dishcloths
• Old jeans for dog toys

We look forward to seeing the work we can do this coming year to bless others. Please do not hesitate to call or email with any questions. Or let us know if you would like to be removed from the email list. We look forward to seeing how God will bless our Busy Hands this upcoming year. Please feel free to contact us at busyhands4all@gmail.com with any questions. 

Whether you have a few extra minutes to spare or a lot of extra fabric to share, a little generosity goes a long way when it comes to sewing for charity. Sometimes we get so caught up in our own lives that we forget there are people and animals in the world that are suffering. In a time when money is not freely disposable, we must find creative ways to help our fellow mankind. You can use your talent to help the world become a better place for the less fortunate. I was amazed at how many programs there are out there that appreciate the value of homemade sewn items and how desperately they need our help. Not only are the items practical, but something that is handmade is made with love and the recipient is sure to feel that love.

Awesome things are happening with "Busy Hands"! We will soon be packing the Days for Girls kits going to Fond Blanc Orphanage in Haiti! Aliy is taking them with her on June 25. We have almost all of the components for the Days for Girls kits going to Honduras with Laura this fall!

Last month we donated our first collection of knitted/crocheted hat and sharing hearts to Children's Hospital of St. Louis. We have another donation ready to go! We would like to gather contact names and phone/email addresses of NICU head nurses at our local area hospitals. Such as Mercy, St. Lukes, Progress West, St. Joseph Lake St. Louis, etc. We would like to expand and be able to further distribute our Sharing Hearts and help with additional sewing projects for the babies. If you have contact information, we would greatly appreciate it.

We welcome the "Busy Hand" residents of Meadowlands Assisted Living in O'Fallon! These ladies have been putting together our Mini blankets and Hat sets going to SHARE pregnancy and infant loss centre for distribution to hospitals when needed. Thank you!

We have a new project and patterns. We are sewing Angel gowns and bonnets from donated wedding dresses. The Angel Gown® Program provides comfort for bereaved families with beautiful gowns for final photos and for burial services. It is a privilege for us to provide gowns and bonnets to SHARE pregnancy and infant loss centre for distribution.

We are currently looking for donations of wedding gowns or bridesmaid dresses (in subtle colours) that we can make into Angel Gowns. Not every gown works. We need gowns that have any or all of these attributes: Heavy bridal satin (not see thru), lace or beading that can be removed or cut into small sections to decorate the Angel gowns, cleaned. If you know of someone who would like to donate a dress, please try and send us a photo and before accepting it. We don't want to accept a wedding gown and not be able to use it. Please contact us if you have any questions or need more information.