Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Back to School Time!

Many of you I’m sure heard about the devastating tornados that swept through Joplin Missouri. In its wake it left a path of destruction and hurt. People lost homes.
But the community rebuilt. With help from the government and helpful neighbors Joplin is coming back to life.
One of the signs of this new growth is that on Monday kids went back to school with a little help from a seamstress. Over the summer a local quilter Susan Stewart wanted to help the rebuilding effort. Unable to do heavy manual labor she got to thinking about helping the kids of Joplin. Then she remembered that ever year she had a new dress for the first day of school. It struck her that many of the kids of Joplin had lost everything. Giving them new clothes for the school year would be a perfect way to help.
So Stewart launched Project First Day. She invited her sewing friends from all over the country to help her make clothes for the kids of Joplin. People latched onto the idea. By distribution day they had 1,440 garments to give away.

For the kids of Joplin it was nice to have something not only to where, it also made them feel like they had a fresh start.
Wow. What a story. Because one woman gave and encouraged others to give, some kids who had lost everything got blessed with new clothes. People like that inspire me. They inspire me to give, to work, and to love. I may not end up on the national news for it, but if I make a difference in someone else’s life. It’s enough.    

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