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| Special order: Anna Selby, part of Sew Much Comfort, sews Velcro into a garment. Amy Green |
For injured soldiers, new clothes from volunteer sewers
The organization Sew Much Comfort has turned out 45,000 shirts, shorts, pants, and other garments that are altered for special needs.
from the November 13, 2007 edition
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Sew Much Comfort now has sewers in all 50 states, Canada, and Europe. It supplies clothing to nearly 100 combat surgical hospitals, veterans' hospitals, and other military medical centers. Some clothes are shipped to soldiers' homes.
In 2006, President Bush recognized the organization through the Defense Department effort "America Supports You," which assists groups that support the troops.
In Florida, more than 100 women's clubs, church groups, and others are involved in Sew Much Comfort, says Joy Campbell, who serves as the organization's regional director from her home in the Panhandle town of Jay. One women's club raised $10,000 and arranged with an athletic company to have 400 pairs of athletic shorts manufactured to Sew Much Comfort's specifications, she says.
Every Monday, about a dozen women gather at Oviedo's First United Methodist Church. Many are the wives and mothers of military members. Some spend their own money on fabric, T-shirts, and boxer shorts. Others get donations from churches and individuals. They toil attentively at their sewing machines, turning out shirts, shorts, and pants. In some, they replace seams and buttons with Velcro. Others they make from scratch using patterns the organization provides. They turn out some 30 articles of clothing a month and send them to headquarters in Ohio, which distributes the clothing according to need. In every item they stitch a "Sew Much Comfort" label.
They have no contact with the soldiers who wear their clothes, but they beam with pride over the thank-you notes they get from headquarters. And they can imagine.
Shirley Peters of nearby Casselberry served 21 years in the Navy as a nurse, including a year in Vietnam. Wearing a Snoopy T-shirt emblazoned with the words, "Proud to be an American," she gets teary as she discusses her sewing.
"I get a real sense of helping," she says, "Helping the soldier who has to get used to a new body image."
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