'Sweetest sweat shop' makes dressses from pillowcases for the poor

Inside what founder Kathy Ingraham calls the "sweetest sweat shop in The Villages," seamstresses are busy twice monthly creating clothes out of pillowcases and T-shirts for those in need throughout the world.

One side of the room is for boys and the other side, for girls. Stacks of T-shirts and pillowcases get sorted in the center of the room while five to seven sewing machines are buzzing about the perimeter. There are two cutting stations and one for ironing to keep the clothes coming for Ingraham's organization, Pillowcase Pocket Dresses.

"I have six boxes packed and ready to go," Ingraham said of the inventory at her home. In each of the boxes are either 50 dresses or 35 pairs of pants.

The clothes are distributed through ChildFund International, founded by Fernando Varela, a performer in The Villages for years, and through Mission to Heal, founded by Dr. Glenn Geelhoed, a medical doctor who has been tending to the less fortunate worldwide for more than 40 years, according to his group's website.

Geelhoed told Ingraham that getting a dress from her organization means more than looking good for a child in a poor country. The children appear to come from "a wealthier family and are less preyed upon," he shared with Ingraham.

"When he told me that, it made everything we do here so much more special," Ingraham said.

Charlotte Rupakus, who teaches classes on how to make the clothing a couple of times a month at her home, was going through the stack of pillowcases recently and joked, "I want to know what people are sleeping on."

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The women in the room chuckled.

"Every dress gets a ribbon. Every outfit gets a pocket and in the pockets goes a whistle, a toy for a child who has none," Rupakus said.

So far, the group has made about 3,000 dresses and 800 pairs of pants since its inception in 2013. The ones donated to ChildFund go mostly to Ecuador, and two deliveries were made to native-American reservations in New Mexico.

"They are fabulous organizations that help so many people over the world," Rupakus said of the two agencies who distribute the clothes.

For each piece of clothing, $5 is donated to Mission to Heal by the members of the pillowcase group who make the garments. So far, the group has raised $6,000 for the nonprofit, which brings together those in the medical field who accompany Geelhoed on missions.

The seamstresses of Pillowcase Pocket Dresses enjoy the time spent together.

Barb Biggs was busy cutting pockets and draw strings for pants during a recent sewing day. She's been in the group for two years and has made about 50 items so far.

"It's fun to see people getting excited about it," she said.

Nancy Organiscak, who spends part of the year in The Villages, got involved because she missed sewing. Her machines are too big to be packed and brought south for the winter.

"I love it," she said. "I've met a lot of wonderful people."

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