Every 4th Tuesday of the month (except during the summer and December), a dedicated group of women gather together in fellowship to share a simple lunch, sew dresses, and craft matching dolls. The dresses and dolls are sent mostly overseas to schools and orphanages in areas of poverty. Our sewing group was inspired by Dress A Girl Around the World, an international organization with a mission to elevate the esteem of girls around the world by making sure every little girl has the dignity of owning one new dress. Each dress arrives with a small, handmade doll and the message that she is special and she is loved. Children who look cared for are more likely to be bypassed by predators and traffickers as well.
In November 2010, 25 women brought their sewing machines and scissors to begin cutting and sewing, while others worked to create simple dolls to give to each child. In response to publicity and word of mouth, the number of participants increased to include women from all corners of Amherst and friends and neighbors of North Church members.
Dresses are a simple peasant style; patterns are provided as are all fabrics and notions. Dress a Girl has been supported by the congregation and others in the community. Church groups and other organizations transport and deliver dresses and dolls when they are traveling for medical or mission work, visiting orphanages, building schools or teaching water purification methods. If we learn that someone is traveling to an area of need, we work with them to send dresses.
Over 2,000 dresses, dolls and some shorts for boys have been sent to Uganda, Kenya, Dominican Republic, Cambodia, Tanzania, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Haiti, Jamaica, and many other countries.
At the March 2025 gathering of the Dress A Girl group, Kofi Fynn-Aikins, a PhD (retired), president of the board of Hosikids, which supports the development of Bawaleshie Elementary and Middle School, a rural school in the Greater Accra region of Ghana, West Africa https://hosikids.org/, stopped by to share some information about the school he supports and brought us a framed version of this photo.
We thank the church and the congregation for their support and encouragement. We send appreciation to all our volunteers who are so hardworking to keep up with this project.
If you have an interest in sewing or hand crafts, please consider joining the Dress A Girl group who meet on the 4th Tuesday of the month from 12 to 4 pm in Westminster Hall. Enjoy a simple salad lunch and fellowship while sewing dresses and crafting matching yarn dolls. If you are interested in joining or would like more information, please contact the church office at 716-632-1330 or n.church.npc.com.
We dream of a world in which every girl has at least one new dress. We want girls to know that they are worthy of respect, and that they are loved by God.