Friday, November 2, 2001
By Andrea Faiad
The Post-Bulletin
Focused, Samnang Meak carefully sews together the two squares of beige material, each with a blessing or American icon sewn on it.
The 11-year-old finishes, gets up, walks two steps to the table holding the in-progress 80-patch quilt plus borders, and takes another square. He'll continue working on the quilt that he and his friends in the Church of the Nazarene's sewing class are making for victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the firefighters who helped them.
"I just wanted to do it because of the Twin Towers and stuff," Meak says. "I wanted to raise money for it. A lot of people died."
Participating students helped sell patches to donors, who "adopt" the patch and can personalize it with a message.
Under the guidance of three volunteer sewing teachers -- Sandy Toogood, Sandi Huikko and Penny Thomas, all of Rochester -- the dozen students designed the quilt, sewed it together and will help tie it together once the backing is on it.
The completed project, which has a red heart and block letters spelling out "USA" on a white background, stars and stripes trim and beige borders, will be sent to New York through the Nazarene Compassionate Ministry Fund.
The ongoing Tuesday afternoon class is open to any third- through sixth-graders. Typically, beginners create their own 80-patch quilt to get a feel for sewing and the machines. Once finished, they move onto their own projects, such as an outfit or gift. Students also work together each year on a service project. In light of Sept. 11, that service project became the quilt.
"When this happened, I wanted the children to be able to do something with their hands and what we're teaching in here, so they can understand this (sewing) is something they can learn and do for themselves and for others," Toogood says. She knows they won't raise thousands and thousands, but every little bit helps, including the messages of care and the time the students put into the quilt.
"I think it's really cool because it's going to be our work and our thoughts to other people and their families," says student Sokunthea Pho, 11. "I think they'll be really happy that people care in this world. I'm just happy that we're helping because this was a really bad thing.
"I hope New York knows that people out there are caring and think a lot about what happened."