In a senior living community in Davenport, Iowa, a group of residents meet weekly to sew dresses for a charitable organization. But for Lillian Weber the hobby has turned into a mission: In her Bettendorf farm house she makes a dress for a small girl in Africa every single day.
By next May 6, when she celebrates her 100th birthday, her tally will reach 1,000 handmade dresses donated. In the past two years she’s finished more than 840 of them.
She may use just a single pattern but adorns each one with special decoration, ribbon or ruffle that make the dress one-of-a-kind.
“When I get to that thousand, if I’m able to, I won’t quit,” she told WQAD-TV. “I’ll go at it again.”
She simply loves what she does. She also said she needs to stay busy.
Her donations are distributed to schools, orphanages and churches by a Christian outreach group called Little Dresses for Africa which says it’s distributed 2.5 million pieces since it was founded in Michigan in 2008.
The group’s founder heard about Lillian’s labors and has promised to hand deliver some of her dresses and take pictures to send back to Iowa. Because nothing can say thank you like a radiating smile on a young girl’s face.
(WATCH the video below or READ the story from WQAD)
Is there an update yet? Has she seen photos of little girls wearing her dresses?
Thanks for the reminder. I just emailed Little Dresses group to ask for info whenever available. Stay tuned!