Woman's Club gives back

PLAINS – With the spirit of the holidays flooding town, local groups continue to work diligently to make a difference. The Plains Woman’s Club did just that on Friday, creating 40 unique stockings to go to those in need.

As Christmas spirit took over the United Methodist Church, the ladies sang Christmas carols and sewed stockings for the Sanders County Coalition for Families. After two hours of work, a large stack of stockings was produced – each one its very own.

This is the second year the ladies have helped SCCFF provide stockings to those in need. According to the project organizer, Ellen Childress, the Plains Woman’s Club sews the stockings and SCCFF fills them with age appropriate gifts. 

The project was deemed important by the woman’s club for a variety of reasons. The ladies said SCCFF was important and also said they wanted to give back to their community.

“We’ve supported SCCFF for a long time. Some of us have been volunteers and were volunteers when they first opened,” said Plains Woman’s Club member Mary Lou Hermes. 

Hermes went on to say that domestic abuse is a national high priority for the General Confederation of Women’s Clubs and this is one of the many ways the club tries to help end the problem. 

“(SCCFF) has a lot of clientele in abusive situations and they do some separate children’s work for abused families. I’m sure these stockings will be filled for those children and the children’s families,” said Hermes. 

Crystal Buchanan, volunteer organizer at SCCFF, said the Plains Woman’s Club has been a big help to their organization.

“The last couple years the Plains Woman’s Club has been phenomenal,” said Buchanan. “This adds another layer on the Adopt a Family program.” 

Buchanan explained the stockings go to children in the program and local businesses donate items to fill the stockings. Working on her favorite project of the year, Buchanan said the stockings are great gifts.

“They are making these wonderful keepsakes. It’s just so sweet and it’s a handmade gift,” said Buchanan. “It blows me away how caring this community is.”

The ladies busied themselves with whatever task was assigned to them. There were approximately 15 ladies who cut the fabric, ironed, sewed and decorated the stockings. The group worked a smooth assembly line until their work was completed in a short few hours. 

“I tell you when these ladies get going, they just keep going,” Childress said. 

The group hopes to continue the project for years to come. 

Reflecting on the first year of the project, Childress said the woman’s club produced more stockings than was asked of them, with over 60 completed by the end of the work session.

“It was really fun last year and they were very grateful to have what we made,” said Childress. 

Sandi Lane, president elect of the club, was proud of the hard work put forth by her team. 

“It was a great success. We had many hands and many hands make light work,” Lane said.