PORT ANGELES — Cathy Haight is packing sundresses for a Caribbean island this weekend.
She’s not making the trip, though.
The dresses are to be mailed to Project HOPE Art for delivery to Nadine’s orphanage in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, in time for Christmas.
Haight, a group leader at the Y-Kids after-school care program at Jefferson Elementary School, is always looking for art projects that not only integrate new skills, but also teach her 5- to 11-year-olds about the world.
‘Sundresses for Haiti’
So when she found the “Sundresses for Haiti” challenge on www.ArtProjectsforKids.org, she told the children and their parents about it.
“The response was a resounding ‘Let’s do it!’” Haight said.
So the girls and boys got stitching.
With just one sewing machine at Jefferson, they made seven sundresses from scratch, with fabrics and supplies donated by their parents.
“The children learned how to pin and cut a pattern, simple garment construction, how a sewing machine works and how to sew simple stitching on a machine,” Haight said.
“I’m boxing the sundresses up,” she said Friday night, adding that her students made cards and wrote notes like “we had a good time making your dress. Hope you like it,” and sent a group photo of themselves.
The Port Angeles seamstresses and seamsters are now part of Project HOPE Art’s worldwide effort.
The organization — whose mission is to inspire and heal children in need through the creative process of art — reported on www.ProjectHOPEart.org that as of late October, it had received 143 sundresses from youngsters around the globe, from America to Australia.
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-417-3550 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
