Thank you to our wonderful Seniors and Mentors for helping make clothing for the children in need. Here’s a few words from their mentors.
Pamela Santana is a Columbus East Senior. She started sewing last summer and said she had set a goal of 60 outfits. When I told her the girl last year made 15, she was undeterred. She took 30 shorts and dresses to begin and came back with those finished in August. She took another bag of clothing and finished 61 shorts and dresses which I displayed at a Granny Connection meeting. I introduced Pamela to the group who gave her much admiration and applause. She presents her project this spring.
Cynthia Guzman is a senior at Columbus North. She was learning to knit by her mother and grandmother. She came to my house often to show me how she was progressing, brought a friend, and we all have kept in touch since. I couldn’t go with Granny Connection to tie scarfs with her, so she asked if I could go Saturday morning with her mother to place the scarfs on Washington Street. It was very, very cold at 8 a.m. She let me know she was running a few minutes late but arrived soon, and I met her mother. The 3 of us had an easy time finding the few empty posts and trees to tie the scarfs around and got the giggles. Not many people were out that morning but us! I took photos as did her mother. We were all three in tears as we hugged after finishing. Her mother was so proud.
In December I called her and asked if she would like to practice her speech at the presentation of her project. She came over and showed me her program on the computer, and then she spoke. The young people tell something about themselves first, and I was in tears when she said she would be the first person in her family to graduate from high school. She plans to go to college this fall. She and I timed her speech and made some suggestions. She was so nervous! She asked me to come watch her presentation, and her mother came as well. She had support from several friends as well. She gave her speech so well and showed the panel her first knitting which was fun and then told them about her interest in this funny lady with an African dress on at Senior Fair asking for knitters. She showed a photo of me in the dress, and we all started crying. She told about the children that we were helping in Zambia as well as the education about Aids in our area with the red scarfs. She was fantastic! I was a wreck as was her mother. Everyone took photos and waited to hear what the panel had to say. We came back into the room, and Cynthia scored the highest, exceptional! Laughing and celebrating was well deserved by Cynthia Guzman.
Kailen Moats is a senior at Columbus North. She chose to sew 30 shorts for the little boys in Zambia that Granny Connection sponsors and was so excited to be helping them knowing that the outfits would be worn by children who needed them. She began to share her family stories as did I. We became very close and spoke or texted frequently. She knew how to sew and completed her project last fall. She would come and stay for an hour or two talking about whatever came up and became fast friends. She brought her first set of shorts to my house, and they were perfectly made. She chose another batch and returned with another 31 pairs of shorts.
Kailen came to my house to practice her speech which was well done, and I gave her some pointers. She explained and showed the panel how to make a pair of shorts. One of the judges said how much he like that because he could see how much time and effort it took to make them. Another judge asked how much time it took for the first one, and she laughed. She went from almost an hour to less than 30 minutes with the last one. She asked me to come to her presentation, and I again was moved to tears by her thoughtfulness for our project as well as our friendship. We waited outside, she was nervous, and came back in to receive the highest score, exceptional! What an exciting time for Kailen and I! We celebrated with laughter and tears!