BBR ladies sew dresses for needy girls

Imagine a world where every little girl owned at least one dress. That's the vision that motivated 15 local ladies to thread their needles and get to work last week; together they sewed over a dozen dresses for Hope 4 Women International's "Dress a Girl" campaign.

Judi Benson of Black Butte Ranch first heard of the concept from her sister-in-law in Iowa: sewers fashion pillowcases into charming, one-of-a-kind dresses which will be hand-delivered to young girls in poverty-stricken regions world-wide.

"Many of them have never had a dress that's just theirs and it's brand new," said Benson.

She pitched the idea to her own sewing group, "Sew and Tell," which meets bi-monthly to knit, sew and socialize at the BBR community center. Benson downloaded the simple pattern from the Dress a Girl Web site and the ladies collected pillowcases with cheerful prints.

Gently used pillowcases are just as worthy for the task.

"So it's a wonderful use of recycled materials for such a good cause," says Benson.

Hope 4 Women International has been working for many years to empower women who suffer from poverty, disease and low self-worth, often helping them to become self-sufficient business owners. The organization especially focuses on bestowing girls with dignity in worlds where they are regarded as having no voice or value.

"Of course if you empower women, you empower children," says Benson.

The Sew and Tell ladies will gather again in two weeks to complete more dresses. Benson will mail the dresses to the organization's headquarters in Arizona, to be disbursed to various missionary groups who happen to be traveling to needy communities.

The dresses are light-weight and compact, making it easy for the groups to pack them along on their overseas assignments. Photos of smiling girls wearing their new and brightly colored frocks can be viewed on the Dress a Girl Web site.

The sewing-project-with-a-cause is gaining popularity with scouting troops, church groups, and sewing groups like Benson's.

In just over a year, the Dress a Girl project has provided nearly 15,000 dresses to girls in 35 countries. Hope 4 Women also collects pillowcases for another ongoing project: teaching Ugandan women to make the dresses for their own communities. Graduates of their training program are furnished with sewing machines so they may go into business for themselves.

For more information about the Dress a Girl project visit http://www.dressagirlaroundtheworld.com.