December 13, 2000
Surprise stockings filled with essentials
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Call it a small act of love, a way to make some women who are down on their luck happy on Christmas morning.
As members of the Old Mission Women's Club created and filled more than 100 Christmas stockings this month, they had a great time making a special present for someone who might not otherwise get any. For the 70-year old education and service club, making a hundred women happy on Christmas morning is hardly a stretch.
"We take care of the moms and ladies because everyone takes care of the children," said Mary Shultz, secretary of the Old Mission Women's Club. "Everybody did at least one stocking and some made two or three."
The stockings will be distributed to residents at the Phoenix House, the Goodwill Inn, Helen's House and Madeleine's House on Christmas morning. Stuffed with personal items including pens, paper, toiletries, Christmas candy, combs, toothbrushes and toothpaste, the stockings are both practical and a gift that will last a lifetime.
"The women in this club have huge hearts, they just give and give and it is just a wonderful group," said Carolyn Burns, president of the Old Mission Women's Club. "I was thrilled with the cooperation."
Twenty of the stockings will find their way Christmas morning to the doors of women staying at the Goodwill Inn. For the women there, Christmas presents are a priority for their children, not for them. This surprise stocking just for them will be something just for mom, who may have come with her family to the shelter with just the clothes on their backs or a few items they can fit in their car.
"The moms are usually forgotten, they are the last ones on the list," said Cindy Witkowski, a child advocate and volunteer coordinator at the Goodwill Inn. "They don't ask for things for themselves. Things you and I take for granted, like lotion or bubble bath, are just an exception for them."
"The women are going to love this, how nice to pamper them a little bit."
The stocking project actually began last year, when Old Mission Women's Club members were collecting items to donate to the Phoenix House, a club project for many years. One member, Sharon Edson, brought her items in a beautiful, handmade stocking and, suddenly, a lightbulb went off: make stockings for all the donations.
So this fall, members cut out the pattern and everyone took some home to add their own personal touch. When the stockings were collected Thursday afternoon during a luncheon, members were collectively awed at what they had created: ribbons and sequins, elaborate stitching, greenery, ceramic figures decorated the stockings, each of which was a work of art.
"It's fun to do and everybody seems to enjoy it," Burns said. "We're not sure if we will be doing it in future years, it depends on club members."
Members of the Old Mission Women's Club got an assist in this project from the Pine Needlers Quilting Club. Sue Bennett, a member of both groups, was scheduled to lead the quilter's monthly meeting recently and decided to take the stocking project there.
"It was just a coincidental thing," said Bennett. "I was in charge of the program and was racking my brain to come up with something when I saw this sock sitting there."
Bennett got the green light from both groups and took nearly 40 cut-out stockings to the Pine Needlers' meeting. She also brought along material scraps, threads and decorations. The group stitched the pieces together and began lending their creative eye to the task, doctoring up the plain design into a family heirloom.
"Some people really went all out," Bennett said.