SewGreen Year-End Appeal SewGreen is a not-for-profit program based in Ithaca NY that promotes reuse of fabric, fiber, and fashion through a rediscovery of sewing as a self-reliant skill, creative use of existing materials, and landfill diversion. Promoting a shift to sustainable, local, and green spending habits is woven into everything we do.
If SewGreen has enriched your life, or if you think we're doing something of value for the community, please consider a donation to help us continue our programming in 2009. Gifts starting at just $5 can be donated to SewGreen at the Ithaca Alternative Gift Fair website, www.ithacaaltgiftfair.org **now through December 21**. Even a small gift is significant, not only for what it will buy, but to show community support for our efforts. Thank you! ~ ~ ~ For those who want to know more, a short report follows.~ ~ ~ Our First Year: In our first year, we touched the lives of over 2000 individuals of all ages and backgrounds through our low-cost or free sewing classes, after-school programs, outreach events, and reuse activities. We taught a diverse audience of adults, teens, and kids how to sew; started a teen mentoring program and met a request from teens for a sewing club. We established regular open sews to share our classroom space and materials; worked with several teams of college students; gave bags of materials to groups that make items for impoverished or homeless people here and abroad; and adopted Hospicare as our own charity sewing client. We organized a community sew-in to make over 1000 reusable tote bags from all-reused materials. Our reuse and redistribution program diverted about 2.5 tons of materials from the landfill. We sponsored an intensive sewing machine repair course; rescued and restored nearly 100 classic sewing machines; held a fashion show and a gallery show of refashioned apparel and household items; and ended the year with a very successful holiday ReCraft Fair. (See Ithaca Journal Dec 15 article, "Craft Fair Puts Focus on Reusable Materials" http://www.theithacajournal.com/article/20081215/NEWS01/812150317 .) Plans for 2009: SewGreen will expand its class offerings and collaborations to serve an even more inclusive audience, train more sewing teachers, develop its sewing machine repair services and training opportunities, work more closely with the schools and colleges, and continue to listen to the community's requests and feedback. We will keep our programming flexible and responsive, accessible and affordable. We hope to have a facility for our reuse program so that materials can be processed and redistributed more efficiently, and which will allow us to increase resale revenue. Why Help? SewGreen's philosophy of thrift and generosity extends to its budget. We do a lot with a little. SewGreen's accomplishments this past year relied on a vast amount of volunteer time and talent, self-generated revenue, and start-up help from local funders. We paid the rent -- hooray! -- but not ourselves. We would like to sustain what we've started. Even a small donation from you will indicate community approval and will help us as we seek grant and institutional funding. Thank you for a great first year for SewGreen! www.sew-green.org . Wendy Skinner SewGreen Coordinator [email protected] _______________________________________________ For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: [email protected] http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins Questions about the list? ask [email protected] free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org
