'Gifts of time, talents'
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CENTRALIA, Wash. — In May, the women of the Centralia Washington Stake were challenged to sew 2,004 girls' dresses sizes 1-14 by a scheduled Young Women/Relief Society conference in November. On Nov. 6, the sisters gathered as planned with dresses to spare. The official count was 2,058 completed dresses, with more to come. The dresses will be donated to the Church's Humanitarian Service Center in Salt Lake City.
During the conference, hundreds and hundreds of dresses in all colors and styles were displayed on racks and pinned to the walls of the recreation hall to showcase the work of seamstresses as young as a 9-year-old girl and as old as a woman in her 90s. Perhaps the most impressive work was done by Janet Davis of the Rochester Ward who sewed 136 dresses with the use of only one hand. A stroke four years ago left her wheelchair bound and without the use of her right side. Her daughter, Terri Charlton, helped with the project.
"I personally have seen a change in her," said Jolyn Henrichsen, stake Relief Society president. Before the sewing project, Sister Henrichsen said, Sister Davis rarely talked. Now she gives prayers and participates more fully in Relief Society.
Girls from the ages of 8 to 18 were encouraged to participate by cutting out dresses and learning how to sew them. Baby sitting was exchanged for sewing skills. Sewing circles were organized and members of the community were invited to join. A 12-hour sewing marathon was held at an elementary school in Centralia where staff members joined Church members over sewing machines and pots of soup.
"I have seen many miracles as this project progressed," said Linda Hillstrom, Relief Society president in the Centralia Ward. "I saw this opportunity as a chance to lay our gifts of time, talents and a willing heart on the temple altar."
