By Cindy Hoffman, Staff Writer

(Nov. 9, 2023) The Dress Ministry, a local effort that has made and delivered 6,800 dresses to girls in Guatemala and other needy communities since 2011, is inviting volunteers to join them this Saturday at the Berlin Library to learn more about its efforts and make dresses.

The coordinator and founder of the project, Barabara Entwistle of Berlin, came up with the idea when she was researching options for Girl Scouts looking for projects for their gold awards. She came across a magazine article about making pillowcase dresses for needy children in Africa.

Within a week, she had pulled together some Girl Scouts and homeschoolers, along with her family and made 75 dresses and sent them off to Little Dress for Africa. She now works with missionaries in Haiti and Guatemala and has a small cadre of volunteers who sew dresses and shorts for children in need.

The missionaries meet with her and other members of the group. Entwistle said the missionaries tell us what they did with the group’s donations and how it benefited people in the community.

“I started asking the missionaries what else they needed,” Entwistle said.

That launched the idea of making sleeping mats for children. Entwistle said children in these countries frequently sleep on the bare ground. Her volunteers can make four sleeping mats out of one quilt.

Entwistle does not just look overseas for need. Her group of volunteers also collects food for the needy right here at home.

During Saturday’s event, the Dress Ministry will also be collecting food for the Phoenix Youth Project in Salisbury, a group that works mainly with homeless people. The food is for children that go to Phoenix after school. The children are given something to eat and help with homework.

Entwistle said she is collecting food that does not need to be cooked or refrigerated, such as fruit cups and trail mix. The items will be delivered to Phoenix the week of Thanksgiving.

The volunteer effort is not just helping those in need of  dresses and other goods, it’s helping the volunteers as well.

“It’s a gift for these countries and for these volunteers,” Entwistle said.  Some of her elderly  volunteers have told her that they were just sitting around and now they are helping others. The volunteers sew and also visit thrift shops looking for fabric, pillowcases and other items they can repurpose. The group is also collecting funding to pay for water filters to cut down on contamination and disease.

People who want to help or just learn more can visit the Berlin Library from 1-3 pm. Saturday. Entwistle will have three to four sewing machines in place. Materials and instructions will be provided on how to make the dresses, which only take about 20 minutes to sew. Volunteers, age eight and older, are welcome. To learn more about the event, visit https://worcesterlibrary.libcal.com/event/11139246. To learn about the Dress Ministry visit https://www.facebook.com/DressMinistryMD

The Dress Ministry accepts donations to help pay for shipping dresses and other donations. She is currently trying to get nonprofit status for the charity. Those interested in donating can contact her at 443-669-3781.