Stitchin’ Away

You may have heard about the Stitchers, a group of wonderful individuals who handcraft amazing items all to benefit the guests at St. Anthony’s.  The Stitchers have been dedicated to serving St. Anthony’s since 1985.  I had the opportunity to visit the Stitchers for the group’s monthly meeting earlier this month.  Here’s some of what I got to see!

First, we went to the home of one of the Stitchers, Marie, who has so generously converted a portion of her home into a sewing area.  Different members will come to her home to work on projects and also drop off their creations to be picked up by our Free Clothing Program.  This sewing area is a very sophisticated operation, with space for preparing materials, commercial sewing machines, and storage of materials, as well as finished items.

Our driver, Siphai, loaded many bags full of contributions from the Stitchers into our St. Anthony’s truck.  The items included blankets, tote bags, toiletry bags, hats, and clothing that were all lovingly made in the past month by our Stitchers.  It was just amazing to see how many items the Stitchers could create in just a few short weeks!

Next, we attended the Stitchers meeting in Pacifica.  At this monthly meeting, Stitchers will come out to socialize, show off their creations, and get some new fabric to use for the next month.  The Stitchers currently have a roster of over 150 members!  They all were very excited to display their creations, some of which really reflected the personalities of the members who made them. 🙂

Lastly, we gave each of the Stitchers a St. Anthony’s Volunteer hat to show our great appreciation for their work!  They loved the gift and we hope that they wear the hats with pride.

Our guests are so thankful for the creations from the Stitchers; these homemade items are not only high quality ones that our guests can really use, but they show our guests that they are cared for and loved.  If you would like to learn more about the Stitchers, how to get involved, or how to contribute to this wonderful group’s mission, please visit: http://saintanthonystitcher.wix.com/stitchers