(Chelsea Update would like to thank Allison Vanderspool for the photo and information in this story.)
On the third Tuesday of each month, a group of women gather at Chelsea First United Methodist Church to make items for the Hometown Holiday Children’s Christmas Bazaar, a fun shopping experience for children ages 4 years – 6th grade.
The group of 50 women call themselves the “Material Girls,” and together they have crafted well over 2,000 items for this year’s event on Dec. 7. Material Girls is a unique group comprised of mothers with young children, great-grandmothers, and all ages in between.
The women enjoy spending time together and using their creativity.
“Because of the dedication of the Material Girls, we have been able to grow the bazaar from 60 children shopping to well over 200 in the past three years.
We are also able to offer much higher quality gifts at a very low cost. All of the bazaar items sell for $5 or less, even though they would sell for much more at a craft fair,” said Allison Vanderspool, one of the event organizers.
The generosity of the Material Girls also makes it possible for children served by Faith In Action and Jackson Interfaith Homeless Shelter to participate in the bazaar and select gifts for their families at no cost.
Material Girls will help setup and run the bazaar, take a short break and in February, they will resume crafting meetings.
The group welcomes new members from the community. If you’re interested, please contact Barbara Brown [email protected].
If you are interested in volunteering for this year’s bazaar, there are a few adult and 7th-12th grade student positions available. Please register at http://www.signupgenius.com/go/70A0F4BABA9283-childrens.
