All in all, we had 1250 flowers made. That was less than we hoped for because about 100 of the kits were not returned. Regardless, it was a contribution. These are a few of the spiral felt flowers that were made. I wasn't smart enough to get pictures of the two other types of flowers we made, but they turned out just as cute. Our service project was a take and make, which meant the conference goers picked up a kit, made it at conference, and then turned it back into us. This meant most of our time was spent in pre-work. Everything had to be pre-cut and assembled, as the ladies wouldn't have scissors. We had to package needles, buttons and beads, wind thread, etc. It took forever, but our family was so good to help us. We had ten family members show up over Conference weekend and spend all day helping us. Wow!
So, as I write this, Women's Conference has come and gone and our flowers have been successfully delieved to various agencies, including hospitals and women's shelters. Sarah and I had never attended Women's Conference before, so we didn't really know what to expect. The morning of the grand "pass out" was craziness, but I think we did a pretty good job. For the next two days, we sat at a collection booth and fixed dilapidated flowers, hot glued on clips, and packaged the flowers. We even managed to squeeze in a few classes when our volunteers arrived.
I guess I never fully appreciated the scope or magnitude of the these service projects until a follow up meeting a week later. Literally thousands of humanitarian kits, blankets, children's supplies, etc. were made and assembled. It was truly amazing to be a part of. Months of work finally paid off. It took Sarah and I about another two weeks of work after the conference to finish everything up, but we are officially done now!
Sarah's mom, Maureen, and my mother-in-law, Jody are best friends and sewing geniuses, so they were kind enough to help us pass out kits Thursday morning and answer questions for befuddled conference-goers.
Sarah and I had lots of help from other family, friends, and neighbors and we couldn't have done it without them, particulary when the line starting wrapping around the Marriott Center (who knew?)
All in all, we had 1250 flowers made. That was less than we hoped for because about 100 of the kits were not returned. Regardless, it was a contribution. These are a few of the spiral felt flowers that were made. I wasn't smart enough to get pictures of the two other types of flowers we made, but they turned out just as cute. Our service project was a take and make, which meant the conference goers picked up a kit, made it at conference, and then turned it back into us. This meant most of our time was spent in pre-work. Everything had to be pre-cut and assembled, as the ladies wouldn't have scissors. We had to package needles, buttons and beads, wind thread, etc. It took forever, but our family was so good to help us. We had ten family members show up over Conference weekend and spend all day helping us. Wow!
So, as I write this, Women's Conference has come and gone and our flowers have been successfully delieved to various agencies, including hospitals and women's shelters. Sarah and I had never attended Women's Conference before, so we didn't really know what to expect. The morning of the grand "pass out" was craziness, but I think we did a pretty good job. For the next two days, we sat at a collection booth and fixed dilapidated flowers, hot glued on clips, and packaged the flowers. We even managed to squeeze in a few classes when our volunteers arrived.
I guess I never fully appreciated the scope or magnitude of the these service projects until a follow up meeting a week later. Literally thousands of humanitarian kits, blankets, children's supplies, etc. were made and assembled. It was truly amazing to be a part of. Months of work finally paid off. It took Sarah and I about another two weeks of work after the conference to finish everything up, but we are officially done now!
Sarah's mom, Maureen, and my mother-in-law, Jody are best friends and sewing geniuses, so they were kind enough to help us pass out kits Thursday morning and answer questions for befuddled conference-goers.
Sarah and I had lots of help from other family, friends, and neighbors and we couldn't have done it without them, particulary when the line starting wrapping around the Marriott Center (who knew?) 