Community Service is an important part or our organization. If you are able to help with one of our many projects, please don't hesitate to let us know. Contact either your neighborhood group leader or our Chapter Community Service person Sylvia at communityservice@asgspacecoast.org .

A Big Thank You to all our ASG Volunteers who willingly give of their time and sweat to complete these wonderful and useful Community Service Projects. You contributed 755 items plus 6276 Wish-pillow covers. There were 101 participants who put in a total of 3749 hours.
Remember that all your time, talent, machine wear and tear is very much appreciated by those recipients. We all receive more than we give by helping others; this is what Community Service is all about. We need to keep enlarging our horizon on helping many people and not just one. If you have any ideas, please bring them forward.
Once again, thank you to the Neighborhood Group Community Chairs for providing your information
in time for me to get those reports to Headquarters.
Keep those machines humming!!
Sylvia Cote,
Chapter Community Service Chair

Brevard Bobbins Community Service

The Brevard Bobbins participates in various community service projects. This year we have made anti-ouch pouches for the Titusville Cancer Center. Walker bags have been donated to the Center, along with the visiting nurses as well as giving them to friends and family members. A custom window treatment shop has become a donor of material providing us with wonderful/colorful fabrics to make the walker bags. Another project we have helped with is the Ronald McDonald pillows cases for the National Convention Community Service Project. These projects had 17 members spending at least 306 hours of committed time. Some members have helped the Girl Scouts earn their merit badges in sewing and community service by teaching/assisting in sewing of cosmetic bags for the women’s shelter. The Bobbins biggest community service project was to become “Sewing Angels” for Give Kids The World Village (GKTW) located in Kissimmee, Florida in 2006. “Angels” are the volunteers with invisible wings that bring the village to life. The village is a 70-acre, non-profit resort that creates magical memories for children with life-threatening illnesses and their families. GKTW provides accommodations at its whimsical resort, donated attractions tickets, meals, and more for a week-long, cost-free fantasy vacation. No one is ever turned away. To find out more about GKTW, check out their web site: www.gktw.org. Our group has taken on the task of sewing 500 covers a month for the “Wish Pillows”. These pillows come from the Wish Machine located in the Wish Castle at the village. Children put their wishes in the machine and the pillow is filled with these wishes.  The Bobbins group purchases the flannel, novelty print fabric for the pocket, and thread to continue this project. This means we have to purchase 1,500 yards of plain cozy flannel and 500 yards of novelty prints for the pockets for the entire year. We can make four pillows out of the yard of flannel and 12 pockets from the novelty print. The wish pillow cover project is funded in many ways. We talk about our project to family, friends, and co-workers. We contact businesses for donations, write Grants, have displays in various places, have newspapers in to see our community service sewing days, and the list goes on. This is a collective effort by all the members of the Brevard Bobbins neighborhood group, “Bobbinettes” (as we call ourselves). This has been quite a task as you can imagine with the cost of material today. Every week we get together and spend 3 hours sewing on these pillow covers. This year so far we have provided 4,746 wish pillow covers. The “sewing angels” have spent 1,780 hours on assembling these covers. Twelve to 15 “sewing angels” show up to help out. Those who cannot sew help by spreading the word, obtaining needed funds, and providing material that is needed. The Bobbins have spent over 2,000 hours so far this year in community service sewing and should be very proud of their efforts. A Big “THANK YOU” is sent to all our members for your continued support and help with all our projects. As GKTW says--- you are truly “SEWING ANGELS”.
Submitted by: Mary Ann Sheppard, Bobbins Community Service

Vero Beach Community Service

The latest community service project of the Vero Beach Neighborhood Group follows the mission statement of the American Sewing Guild: Advancing sewing as an art and life skill. The project was suggested and organized by VB member M. D. Harrington, who is a past president of the Fort Lauderdale Chapter. M. D. identified a group of teen age girls who would benefit from learning "survival sewing" as she called it. These girls live at Baines Hall in Vero Beach, a facility of the Children's Home Society.

The home has a capacity of 12 and the number of residents fluctuates. Six to 12 girls participated in the eleven 2 hour after school sessions. These were preceded by a Meet and Greet session and followed by Sew and Tell. We called ourselves mentors and provided snacks for the first and last sessions. A sewing machine had been donated to Baines Hall. Several others were loaned and donated to us. A different project was planned by the ASG members for each session. For the most part, the girls finished a project in one session. The mentors made kits for each project using fabric from their stashes and written instructions at times. The first session included hand sewing a pin cushion, preparing and hand sewing a hem, and beginning experience on a sewing machine. Other projects included a tote bag, fasteners, pillowcase with French seams, cinch sack (includes a casing), screen bag with a zipper, scrunchies and headband, T shirt with pony beads and fabric manipulation to sew a silky scarf.

The staff at Baines Hall is very supportive of our efforts. The Director observed that the girls gained self esteem by completing the projects. Several of the girls gave their work to friends. Some of our NG feel that our contribution was that of some grandmothers spending time with these nice girls. All of our NG found this a very rewarding experience. We will pick it up again in the fall with additional instruction on the sewing machine (threading a machine, filling a bobbin, etc.) and garment construction. We sincerely believe that this is a very suitable project for community service.
Residents at Baines Hall work on sewing projects mentored by members of the Vero Beach Neighborhood Group Tootsie Schroeder and Kathy Sculthorpe.

Vero Beach Neighborhood Group participated in a Family Fun Day at the local Crafts & Stuff store by displaying items we had made, distributing ASG brochures and talking to customers. One of them visited our next meeting.
Submitted by K Glen

Melbourne Seaside Stitchers Community Service

Webster dictionary says of “Stash”: to store in a secret place for future use.

Just ask a Seaside Stitcher about her “stash” and you will get a grin and a list of places she hides her “stash”. You will be amused with the innovative ways she finds to “protect” her hiding places from prying eyes and the way their husbands just “roll their eyes” when they accidentally find the stash! Then ask her how she will use the fabric she collects. AND then stand back for the long list of recipients. At the top on the list are her children, grandkids, relatives and friends. From there she spins a list of children and adult quilts, place mats and bibs for Senior Centers; caps, turbans and comfort pillows for the Cancer Center; knitted and crocheted shawls, baby blankets and caps for premature babies (oh yes, she has a stash of yarn, too)! And, the list goes on! Each Stitcher seems to have favorite items she crafts to meet the needs of others. There are tote bags of many descriptions. Cosmetic bags to hold the collection of travel size items saved to share with the Womens Center, walker bags for the Senior Centers and draw string bags for the homeless. Christmas Stockings for the Intervention Center “jump start” the Christmas Season's sewing. Special thanks to a group of our members who refurbish dolls and clothe them in stunning garments for special delivery to their new mothers on Christmas morning. The Stitcher's join in the National ASG project of making Ditty Bags for our service men and women overseas. We are also excited about a new project of creating dresses from pillowcases or fabric to be sent to an orphanage in Haiti. An ongoing project from our parent organization, the Seaside Smockers, is the making of smocked and embellished day gowns given to area hospitals for premature infants and grieving parents. We are pleased to carry on this tradition.
Submitted by Tish Kallsen

New Smyrna Sew n Sews Community Service

The third Wednesday of the month is a happy day for ladies from the New Smyrna Beach Sew n’ Sews. That is the day they mend and sew for the residents and staff of Ocean View Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. They arrive in the morning with their sewing machines and supplies and sit and sew in the second floor activities room till all the items are repaired. The idea began from a conversation at a monthly meeting of the Sew n’ Sews. The Sew n’ Sews are a neighborhood group of the Titusville Space Coast Chapter of the American Sewing Guild. The American Sewing Guild, Inc. (ASG) is a not-for-profit education based organization, founded in 1978. ASG is comprised of 136 chapters with over 1,000 community and special interest groups and neighborhood groups within the chapter umbrella. ASG’s over 20,000 members promote the mission to “advance sewing as an art and life skill” by providing a network of sewing education and support for sewing enthusiasts of all skill levels. ASG strives to preserve the sewing arts in America and promotes community engagement through service projects. The American Sewing Guild shares sewing arts with new generations and being key participants in both consumer and industry-wide events that promote sewing. Ruth contacted Stella at Ocean View to see if there was a need for mending and sewing for the residents. Stella and Karen agreed that there was a need. A day and time was set, Ruth and Carolyn arrived ready to sit and sew for the day. Karen coordinates the collection of the items to be repaired, she greets the sewing ladies with a cart to help carry their sewing machines and supplies to the activities room. The cart is stocked with coffee, tea and a snack. The cart also contains the items to be repaired, buttons to sew on, rips and tears to mend, pants to hem and other minor repairs. The ladies set up and get to work, staff and residents stop and say “Hi” , making it a pleasant day of community service for the ladies from the New Smyrna Beach Sew n’ Sews.
Submitted by Carolyn Wehmeyer

The American Sewing Guild, Inc. (ASG) is a not-for-profit education based organization, founded in 1978. ASG is comprised of 136 chapters with over 1,000 community and special interest groups within the chapter umbrella. ASG's over 20,000 members promote the mission to "advance sewing as an art and life skill" by providing a network of sewing education and support for sewing enthusiasts of all skill levels, serving as preservers of the sewing arts in America, promoting community engagement through service projects, sharing sewing arts with new generations and being key participants in both consumer and industry-wide events that promote sewing activity.