There is a “sweatshop” in Jefferson County, but in this sweatshop the workers are volunteers with smiles on their faces.
“A former pastor at the Mount Pleasant Church gave us that name as a joke because we used the basement,” said Donna Richards, the leader of the 15-member Ladies Home Mission group.
“The church gave us the basement to use,” Richards said.
“We make teddy bears, blankets for veterans, mastectomy pillows for cancer victims and receiving blankets for newborns,” Richards said. “We just finished our biggest order, 300 teddy bears and blankets for people in Bangladesh.”
The items were being carefully packed Monday into a crate supplied by Berry Global, a local manufacturer.
“When we went to Hahne (Cancer Center) we set up a table and gave away the blankets,” Richards said. “One man came up and asked us in a whisper if he had to pay for the blanket. We told him they were free and you should have seen his face light up. He was so grateful,” she added.
“It is just so rewarding,” she said. “We are the hands and feet of the Lord. Our biggest reward is the smile and reaction of the people.”
Not all the work is done in the “sweatshop.”
“We have two women who work at their home stuffing teddy bears,” Richards said. “We have a couple who go to Florida every winter. While they are there they cut out teddy bears for us. They bring them home in the spring and we go work on them.”
“It’s a lot of work and it isn’t,” said Richards. “It is a labor of love.”