Marie Claire Lanser, a friend of the CSP from Milwaukee, sends us this wonderful witness:
We call our Sewing Cooperative «Love + Faith Dominicana». This is a group of talented women entrepreneurs who collectively sew a variety of items to help feed their families and to purchase sewing machines to proudly start their own home businesses.
This all began during a Lenten Retreat to “La Sagrada Familia”, the sister parish of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee in Sabana Yegua (Dominican Republic) that took place in March, 2018. To date, more than $12,000 has been earned and sent to the Sewing Cooperative.
The process starts with purchased and donated fabrics and supplies which are carried in suitcases from Milwaukee to Sabana Yegua. Then, much of the sewing happens at the “La Sagrada Familia Sewing Center”, where expert and beginner sewers of all ages gather to sew, talk, laugh, and consult about what each piece of fabric might become. Little girls watch and learn the power of women working together.
What happens next is that sewn goods are packed in a suitcase and sent back with visiting priests and pilgrims from many Archdiocesan groups. They are then sold wherever we can find venues. All of the money collected is sent to the sewing cooperative.
We thank «Calico Corners» of Brookfield, whose owner continues to generously donate designer fabric remnants and samples to make the bags distinctive.
As of Summer, 2023, we are also selling knitted and loomed items that are 100% alpaca from a similar group of dedicated women in Bolivia who raise their own alpacas. We have sent $1530 to these women in three months.
We thank Marie Claire for her support to our missions in the Dominican Republic and Bolivia.
