We read small town papers regularly, and today came across a worthy project that a Girl Scout troup in Spring Grove is working on for their Silver Award. From the Spring Grove Herald:
[Becky] Myhre is in the midst of her large project and is asking for help from the community. She is collecting fabric and thread to be delivered to Tutwiler, Miss. This town in the Mississippi Delta is very poor.
That's an understatement. The 2000 census revealed:
The median income for a household in the town was $18,958, and the median income for a family was $22,857. Males had a median income of $21,364 versus $17,222 for females. The per capita income for the town was $7,177. About 32.1% of families and 38.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 45.5% of those under age 18 and 31.1% of those age 65 or over.
Myhre's project presumably is helping the Tutwiler Quilters, a cooperative put together by the local Catholic-run education center, though the project is not named specifically in the article:
A group of ladies there have come together to make quilts, wall hangings, bags, and etc. to sell. This has become their income.
A visit to the cooperative's web site provides a history of the project, as well as information on ordering what are gorgeous quilts:
The Tutwiler quilters, members of the Craftsmen¹s Guild of Mississippi, are part of the Tutwiler Community Education Center (TCEC). Responding to a strong quilting tradition of women in Tutwiler and surrounding towns, Sr.Maureen Delaney SNJM, Director of TCEC and Sr. Joann Blomme O.P., Counselor at the Tutwiler Clinic, organized the group in 1988 as a way for these women to make money to support their families. As of today the quilters are about 25 to 30 women from Tutwiler and the surrounding communities.
The art of quilt making has been passed down from generation to generation with improvisation as the key word to this style of quilt making. Many of these piecers and quilters, learning quilting from their mothers and grandmothers, take traditional patterns, mix them up, turn them up-side down, mix colors, etc; the effect is a beautiful cacophony of color and design.
This quilt program not only preserves the rich quilt making tradition of these African-American women, but is also a way for women in our area to support themselves and their families. They receive 80% of the price of these products; the other 20% helps buy materials.
Quilts by the Tutwiler Quilters have been displayed at the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles, and the Quilters have taken part in the Smithsonian's Festival of American Folklife. (Tutwiler and the Delta are home to other folk traditions; W.C. Handy claimed to have first heard the blues here).
Myhre's large project is being coordinated with the Platteville, WI, chapter of Habitat for Humanity:
Myhre is working with Mandy Landsom who visited the Tutwiler area last year. Mandy will be traveling to Tutwiler again this January with the Habitat for Humanity Chapter out of Platteville, Wis.
She will personally be delivering the fabric and thread that Myhre collects. The Platteville Chapter has also offered to pay for the shipping for any of the donations that will not fit on the bus.
Navy, light blue, rose, cream, maroon and forest green are the colors of fabric that are preferred by the Tutwiler ladies, but any will be accepted. At least one yard of any individual fabric would be appreciated. For questions or to donate fabric, contact Becky at (507) 498-5769.
The Girl Scouts have already helped out newborn babies in the Spring Grove area, with one member doing a little sewing of her own:
Landsom has already earned her Silver Award and received it in May at the annual Silver and Gold Award Banquet. Her large project was "Blankets for Babies." She collected fabric and made 24 baby blankets for newborns.
She worked with Vivien Mathsen and helped her deliver some of the blankets to the new babies. Mathsen works with the Friends of Family group that delivers bottles, bibs, pacifiers and books to new babies in School District #297 area.
Pretty cool.
It's unfortunate that poverty persists anywhere in America, and we favor policies that work to end as much of it as possible. Meanwhile, help some girls out as they work on quilting together small-scale solutions with some "real conservatives."
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