Little Dresses Expands to Kansas City

For several months now, many volunteers have been meeting at the Hillcrest Thrift Shop to sew dresses for the girls of John Paul School under the banner of “Little Dresses for Africa”. As of this date, they have made a grand total of 122 dresses as well as several “Little Britches for Boys”! This has been made possible by a small group of very dedicated people Mary Desko Murphy, Michele and Jack Murphy, Lou Warner and Cindy Hoffecker.

Hillcrest Thrift Shop manager, Lou Warner, has been most generous in allowing volunteers to use his facility and sewing machines to make the dresses and even more generous in donating fabric.  Starting in February 2012, Mary and Michele have been giving “sewing lessons” twice a month on how to make “Little Dresses for Africa” at Hillcrest. Many ladies have come to help either by cutting, sewing or pressing the fabric. Others have been taking fabric home to sew dresses and then bringing them back when the dresses are finished.
Although Jack isn’t really sewing any of the dresses, he has many important jobs “behind the scenes”!

On April  21, 2012, Hillcrest Thrift Shop  hosted a very special “Fashion Show.” Several  ladies and their grandchildren volunteered to model many of the beautiful dresses that were made during the last several months. As you can see from the photos, each one is prettier than the next! These ladies who sew the “Little Dresses” are not only very creative
they also put a lot of love into each dress.  The girls at John Paul School are teenagers and rarely if ever get a “new” dress of their own. Receiving these beautiful dresses lets them know that they are “special” and not only loved by us but more importantly by God.

Paul and I are extremely grateful to my Ward High School classmates, Mary Desko Murphy and her sister-in-law and husband, Michele and Jack Murphy for becoming so involved with this project to help the kids at John Paul Secondary School in Uganda. We will be taking all of these dresses with us when we visit again this fall. Our sincere thanks also to everyone at Hillcrest Thrift Shop, especially Lou Warner and his assistant manager, Cindy Hoffecker and all the volunteers who made all the beautiful “Little ( and Larger) Dresses for Africa”.