Happy end of Summer! As we head back to school and the days become shorter (and colder) we reflect on a great summer and look towards how we can help people THIS fall and winter keep warm.
But summer (as always) was busy and fun:
SUMMER SEWING CLASSES (our 4th year teaching at the Genesis House)
June and July is when we return to Genesis House to teach the women and children how to sew. No experience is needed and they get to learn how to sew on machines. I know we say this a lot, but this is our favorite part of summer. The stories, the laughter (mostly from mistakes 🙂 ), getting to know each other…by the end of each session we have some great new friends. We start out each class session with a new project. The projects start easy and build on skills so our first projects are the headbands and pillowcases. The headbands teaches measurement and the pillow cases build on that with ironing. We have been told our students are always in need of pillowcases (especially colorful ones like the ones they love to make!). Additional projects include wallets, fixing something they own, and lanyards. The final and hardest project is the over-the-shoulder bag. This involves all the skills (measuring, cutting, ironing and following a pattern). The bag is ALWAYS one of our most popular projects and when we return to work at the shelter, we still see the women carrying them around. As one of our students said proudly “I MADE THIS!”.
To end our summer of sewing classes, we always have a celebratory graduation lunch (we love to celebrate!). We ask the students to bring in all their projects to show everyone who couldn’t attend class what they made. And this year we had a special treat! Mrs. Maisel, Lily, Lauren and Trudy brought in lunch and dessert for the entire shelter to enjoy. They did an excellent job preparing spaghetti, salad, rolls, and dessert for all of the residents and staff.
We are hoping to do another sewing class this winter. We will keep you posted 🙂
SO MUCH RAIN…
During that week of class, Detroit was hit with record rain and flooding. Genesis was not spared. The basement flooded and which included their kitchen and donation room. The water was so high in some places it was 3 or 4 feet deep. Everything below a certain level had to be thrown away. The Genesis House provides shelter for over 100 women and children. They are in constant need of items to help that many people (think of how many diapers one child goes through in a day?) Mackenzie and I reached out to our AMAZING social media followers and friends, and of our course, the response was overwhelming. WE CANNOT THANK YOU ENOUGH. We received bags of clothing, sheets, food and Dr. Julie MacPherson and her medical practice donated boxes of baby formula, diapers, food and water. Mackenzie and I used the monetary donations we received to head over to a shoe store and buy 18 pairs of NEW SHOES.
SUMMER LUNCHES WITH ARK ASSOCIATION
We are always inspired and eager to work with other non profits working to help the homeless in Detroit. One of our favorite events is the Ark Association Saturday lunches. Reverend Karen and her volunteers are out in front of the old Michigan Train station RAIN OR SHINE every Saturday to serve lunch to anyone in need. Our favorite summer item to bring? Freshly cut watermelon of course! When it gets cold, our Blanket Wraps will be back.
THE NEXT “GENHERATION”…
Finally, Mackenzie and I had the opportunity to speak on Creativity in Entrepreneurship to middle school students and other entrepreneur panelists at the 2021 GenHERation Entreprenership Camp. Even though we were all remote, we were impressed by the students we met and the other panelists which included the founder of Recon Food (Sophia) and the founder of Paige’s Planet (Paige). We discussed how to efficiently manage a business (or in our case a non profit) while balancing school and extracurriculars.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR MK BLANKET WRAPS?
Well, as some of you know, Mackenzie will be headed off to college this fall. She will be a student at University of Michigan so she will always be nearby and helping as much as she can with MK Blanket Wraps. Avery and I will miss her!
This winter we will be in our 6th season of MK Blanket Wraps. 6 YEARS! Wow! We never slowed down this past year, we just got more creative with HOW we handed out our Blanket Wraps. Actually, everyone who helped the homeless in this year of COVID did an amazing job.
One of our goals for this year is to expand our distribution, basically help us hand out Blanket Wraps. Please remember, we don’t drop off. We connect with people when we hand out. We want to know what their favorite color or pattern is and give them what they want. It brings a smile to someone’s face when you take the time to listen and care. If you are interested, please email us: info@mkblanketwraps.org. We spent all summer sewing so we have an inventory of Blanket Wraps ready to go when it gets cold and we are sewing more!
Enjoy these warm summer days…the cold will be here soon!
Kate and Mackenzie (Avery too)
