Kara Cole has sewn for over 50 years. When, four years ago, her college-aged daughters mentioned that their friends threw out clothes because of a missing button or a rip in the seam, she felt motivated to act.
Cole, the library media specialist for the Franklin School District, thought of the city’s youngest kids and realized she could teach them a new skill they would carry with them for life.
“Sewing was one of the things that I feel very passionate about,” she said. “I brought my kids up teaching them to sew, so I was like, ‘I have to teach the kids at Paul Smith how to sew.'”
Each year has brought a different project for the children at the Paul Smith Elementary School: making small cushions, sewing on buttons, creating mittens. This year’s venture, Cole said, felt particularly special.
The school received a large donation of fabrics from Friends of Forgotten Children, a low-income assistance nonprofit. Cole decided to make pillowcases out of the fabric, letting kids from preschool to third grade pick from 150 different patterns and learn a simple seam.
Soon, Cole discovered that not every student had a pillow for their pillowcase. She contacted the Trinity Episcopal Church in Meredith, and the church responded to the school’s need by donating 280 pillows — one for each Paul Smith student.
“It was really great,” Cole said. “Lots of support at the school, and so many people just so excited that these kids just were so excited: ‘I have a pillow, I’m going to get to take it home, and it’s all mine.'”
To celebrate their new pillows and the nearing of February break, the students participated in a “Drop Everything and Read” event for the last hour of the school day, cuddled up with their new pillows and favorite books.