Stitch for Students celebrates stellar year
Stitch for Students volunteers produced more than enough nap blankets this year to give to Pre-Kindergarten students at 13 different schools.
Nearly 450 Pre-Kindergarten students in the Davidson County, Lexington City, and Thomasville City school systems now know what it feels like to have something to call their own thanks to the hard work and generous spirit of a group of local volunteers.
Stitch for Students was founded as a summer sewing project in 2011 after Betty Jane Honeycutt , a local community volunteer and member of First Baptist Church in Lexington, approached Communities In Schools of Lexington/Davidson County with the unique idea to provide something handmade to students who may not have many personal possessions.
As part of Stitch for Students, anyone with basic sewing ability could volunteer to sew simple nap blankets for students to use during nap time. Not only did individuals step up to help, local businesses and community groups such as Quilting Quest on Cotton Grove Road and Senior Services of Davidson County also rallied groups to participate in the project.
Together, Stitch for Students volunteers produced more than enough blankets to meet the needs of 13 different schools with Pre-Kindergarten programs. The blankets were sorted, stacked, and delivered early last week.
“What a wonderful job these folks have done in stepping up to the challenge and meeting this need in our school community,” said Carol Williams, who joined the Stitch for Students team this year as volunteer coordinator. “We want to thank all our volunteers for a job well done.”
“I decided to sew again for Stitch for Students because I wanted to make sure that the elementary schools that feed into South Davidson High School – Silver Valley and Denton Elementary – were taken care of.” said Ginger Hill, a teacher at South Davidson High School.
“I hope that the students who receive the blankets will feel warmth, care and love. I don’t know if I made a difference for the students but it felt wonderful to deliver the blankets to the schools and know that they would be put to good use,” Hill added. “Who knows, maybe someday at SDHS a student I teach will tell me the story about their sleep blanket from long ago. We can only plant the seed.”
Those wishing to participate in Stitch for Students next year should contact Carol Williams at Stitch4Students@yahoo.com.