Jar of Hope

Jar of Hope is an ongoing project which is aimed at helping the less fortunate. It began after reading the novel "Because of Winn Dixie" by Kate di Camillo. The children and I decided that we were indeed fortunate and we had a responsibility to help the less fortunate. We have collected spare change, sold vegetables, hosted a Craft Sale and collected donations at our Christmas Concert. The money that we raise will be used to help the less fortunate by building Christmas Hampers. To date we have built four Christmas Hampers and wish to continue.

Update (May 14, 2012)

The fabric has all been purchased for our project and the mothers have decided that one of the items they are going to sew is a quilt. The quilt will be raffled off at our Craft Sale and the proceeds from the raffle will go towards the Christmas Hamper. The students are very excited about this idea because last year at our Craft Sale we raffled off a set of Goose Down Pillows and that raised us $602.00 so we are hoping to raise $1000.00 on a quilt raffle. The fabric for the quilt cost approximately $186.00 leaving us over $300.00 to purchase additional fabric for other items to be sewn and then sold at our craft sale. Look at the beautiful fabric that was purchased with the Grant money. We were given $500.00 to spend and the total bill came to just over $501.00

Update (May 15, 2012)

The German School teacher, Ron, with the help of two students moved two sewing machines into the music/art room. The mothers have decided to sew the quilt at school because then the children can be more involved with the project. The sound of the humming machines can be heard throughout the school and it generates excitement. Before the machines could start humming the fabric needed to be cut into perfect squares and the design process began. It was like a big art and math lesson taking place all at once. The children discovered that quilting required a lot of math skills such as measuring, patterning, designing, and maybe even a little bit of algebra. It was very interesting to watch the quilt develop before our eyes. They took the fabric that we bought and cut it up into four inch squares, then they laid the squares out on the floor into a perfect design, each row received a piece of masking tape and was numbered. The rows were gathered up and stacked on top of the other and then the sewing began. After one day the quilt top was sewn together. It is big enough for a queen or a king sized bed. It is made out of all different kinds of coffee colored fabrics because our teachers love coffee. We can't wait until we see the finished product.

Update (May 19, 2012)

I know that when I come up with ideas the mothers shake their heads and wonder where I've come from but thank goodness they stay by my side and see the project through until completion because I truly could not do it without them. The mothers at my school are truly amazing and even though my ideas are not that fantastic or far fetched, to them, because of their culture (they are Hutterites, living on a colony) my ideas are sometimes over the top. The Jar of Hope has been in existence for three years and when I first came up with the idea there were many raised eyebrows but I now think they enjoy the project as much as I do. After all, they finished a king-sized quilt in TWO DAYS! That to me is remarkable. I have to admit I was getting worried because the deadline for completing this project was coming and Hutterites are not known for keeping deadlines. I had to be a cautious, yet creative task master because the garden work would soon begin and that would take precedent over the Jar of Hope. But, my mothers are amazing and within two days they completed the project. The rest of the material has been dispersed amongst the homes and as I type that material is being sewn into table runners, baby blankets, pot holders and other items which we can sell at our Fall Craft Sale. The big ticket item will be the Quilt which will be raffled off. Our goal is to make $1000 on the Quilt and that should not be an issue as we already have people wanting to purchase tickets and we have not even applied for the lottery license for the raffle tickets. I can't thank Imagineaction enough for their generosity in providing the funds for this project. Being able to purchase quality fabric for the mothers to sew items for our Fall Craft Sale has made a huge difference in the quality of items that have been produced. Our profits will enable us to purchase two Christmas Hampers for The Salvation Army's Christmas program that supports families in need. It is a personal goal of mine to teach the students in my classroom the importance of helping others, not just at Christmas time but all year long. Thank you Imagineaction for helping me achieve this goal.

Update (May 28, 2012)

After just two days at the sewing machines the mothers finished the quilt. It truly is remarkable what they are able to do. As you can see it is a very big quilt and will easily fit on a King or a Queen sized bed. The next step is to purchase a raffle license so that tickets can be printed. We have decided to sell tickets for $2.00 and to print 500 tickets. Our goal is to sell all 500 tickets because that would make us a profit of $1 000.00 which is enough to purchase food and gifts for two hampers for families of five. With only 14 students in our class selling 500 tickets will be challenging but we know that the fathers will help as they have many business contacts who are willing to help out with worthwhile school projects. The remaining fabric is being sewn into baby quilts, table runners, oven mitts etc. and will soon be ready for our Fall Craft Sale. The mother's are busy juggling their time between the sewing machine and the garden work. This is a very busy time on the Colony for the women because they are responsible for the garden which provides the majority of their winter food (soups, canned vegetables, frozen fruits etc.). The rainy days are all they can dedicate to sewing and I am grateful for the time they are dedicating to this project.