Sewing to “ConKerr” Cancer

Members of the Dedham Junior Woman’s Club and the Allin Congregational Church joined forces recently at a sewing bee to make pillowcases for children with cancer.  Inspired by the work of Annette Eddy of Dedham, the group cut, ironed, sewed, washed and bagged 51 pillowcases that will be given out in children’s cancer wards at local hospitals.The chairwoman of the Arts Committee, Janet Holmes, had met Annette Eddy at a local craft fair.  During the course of their conversation Annette explained about her involvement with the ConKerr Cancer Organization.  ConKerr Cancer was started by Cindy Kerr who made pillowcases for her son during his hospital stay at the children’s oncology unit at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.  Cindy soon found herself making pillowcases for other children also.  Eventually “ConKerr Cancer” was formed and it is now an international organization that has volunteers around the globe making pillow cases for children battling cancer.  So far 880,000 pillowcases have been donated and the number is climbing. Annette makes about 50 pillow cases a week for the organization.  At the January meeting of the Dedham Junior Women’s Club, the arts committee board recommendation of donating $100 to Annette to purchase fabric was approved.   The arts committee then decided to take their involvement even further and organized the sewing bee.  The DJWC voted an additional $150 for the material and the sewers met at the Allin Congregational Church for an afternoon of sewing.  When the pillowcases were complete, some members took them home to be washed, ironed and bagged in plastic.  The 51 pillowcase were delivered to Annette a few days later.Annette is always looking for fabric or donations for fabric.  If you have fabric in your house that you are not using, please consider donating it to Annette.  It should be a bright cheery print and 100% cotton. You can email arts@djwc.org and the DJWC Arts Committee Members will be glad to stop by to pick up the fabric and deliver it to Annette.  If you would like to make a monetary donation or would like more information on ConKerr Cancer, please visit Conkerrcancer.org.