2016 Shifting Focus

Things are ever changing in life. So we have to change with them.

 Recently Jessie has been having problems with sewing. The machines keep breaking. This has never happened before. She is content to spend some part of everyday sewing.
This is the thing she loves.

When I took the machines to the repair shop the conclusion we came to is the problem might be operator error….



 I don’t know what she is doing differently but things are different lately
 At 86 years old I am not surprised there are changes

 I’m really not sure what to expect from her day to day. Some things are harder to do sometimes she surprises me. My husband gave Jessie a tablet, she loves it! girlfriend is working that tablet... looking up bible verses... I found her trying to show her sister a video from JW.ORG. She has no problem using the tablet, I thought she would... 

The TV remote is a different story some days it totally frustrates her, and some days I can hear her… as she and the sewing machine are fighting. You just never know…

 My solution is to shift Jessie and her focus and redirect her thoughts. She needs to sew less. I need her to  cut out linings, Put fabric pieces together for sewing, Trim and tag bags, add some buttons and bows to fabrics. She can cut up Jeans to use in bag making.  I will keep her busy. And on her good days she may be sewing some of the bags.

We are still making bags we will just need someone else to help us with the sewing. Starting in 2016 we are going to make more visits to outside locations to tell about our story and get volunteers to join us... We are going to be on the road at least once a week. We are looking for some others to join us. We will need help with sewing and we need people who want to represent Jessie’s bags on the road at senior centers, 55+ communities and residences, schools and corporate events.

  Contact us if you would like to be involved.

One of the changes is our shop in Booths corner location will be closing. 

You will still see our bags and be able to purchase them at Jean’s co-op in the Booths corner.  We will be teaming up with JOY”S FABRICS in Booths Corner to do a bag building event every now and then.

WE are shifting our activities and focus I can't wait to see what 2016 brings ….

#jessiesbagsontheroad

 http://www.udel.edu/udaily/2016/nov/sewing-service-112415.html

http://www.readingeagle.com/news/article/tote-bags-brighten-lives-of-breast-cancer-survivors#.

We wish to conduct ourselves honestly in all things…. NOT A NON-PROFIT maybe call us Philanthropic .... in 2016

The bible sat Hebrews chapter 13 verse 18 says “Keep praying for us, for we trust we have an honest conscience, as we wish to conduct ourselves honestly in all things”.

There have been 2 articles written about us recently and they both call Jessie’s Bags a non-profit organization.

Jessie & I  want to clarify - we do not have a non-Profit status.

We don't want to misrepresent who we are....

We probably should be a non-profit because so far we we have given away more bags than we sell.

For the last 9 years we have been a small group of volunteers who have been hand making bags and giving most of our bags away to breast cancer survivors along with a note of encouragement.

 Jessie’s Bags have also been given these bags to volunteer ministers who attend the pioneer service schools. We gave Bags away to Moms who were at the neonatal unit at Christiana Hospital and some who stayed at the Ronald McDonald House may have gotten one of Jessie's Bags.  Some of Jessie's  bags were given out in PA & DE @ hospitals & to dialysis patients  .  We visit and give out Jessie's Bags to nursing homes residents, Senior centers, 55+ Communities through out  DE  and Pennsylvania locations. We left bags  at other locations doctors offices, mammogram locations, and some of you may have received our bags  from a mastectomy supplier like BFRIN or  at a wig store in PA & DE.

In  2014 we started to count how many bags we gave away and it was 100 a month.

In 2015 we incorporated and became an LLC.

In 2016- we are hoping to expand our out reach and we need to  fund what we are doing by selling some of the bags..... 

  

We will be at the location in Booths Corner Farmers Market mid level  till January 2 2016. (where we still give away more bags than we sell) We will be leaving this location as of January because we cannot afford the rent.   Thanks those who stopped to talk and support us. Thanks to the few people who bought our bags.Thanks for the donations of  fabrics and Jeans that were dropped off.


A new chapter begins  in January 2016 we will focus on selling our bags on line where the cost is minimum. We will let you know more about this later... You will also be able to purchase our bags when we visit a location with a Jessie's Bags event.  We may try to  keep a few bags in Booths Corner at Jeans CO-OP.  And you may see us pop up at area Farmers Markets, Follow our adventures in bag making.... as Jessie's bags is on the road...
follow us on Facebook &   #Jessiesbags INSTAGRAM

We just want to set the record straight we have not been making a profit but ...We are not a non-Profit organization. 
...maybe we should be called philanthropic 

“Keep praying for us, for we trust we have an honest conscience, as we wish to conduct ourselves honestly in all things”.

Thanks ....Stevens Learning Center Chester PA- Volunteers

Thanks to Miss Michelle and the students from Steven's Learning Center Chester PA who lent a hand at Jessie’s Bags Booths Corner location. The group of boys and girls came in and helped us process some of the donated fabrics we had received.


The group was able to tear down 15 books of fabric for us to use in our bag making process. We hope to have them join us again we are always looking for volunteers to help us do what we do…..

Thank you!!!!

Hard at work!

Thanks super young man !

Good Job!

The Moms always help out too!

Do you have a group that might want to volunteer? Come to us or we may be able to come out to your location…..Call us for more details and to schedule a volunteer time... 302-345-6709!

In the news again!

We have a new Article in the university of Delaware paper UDaily.

http://www.udel.edu/udaily/2016/nov/sewing-service-112415.html


I guess Jessie will be signing autographs soon!  


My Celebrity Go mom!

Jessie's Paparazzi !

The Reading Eagle Included Jessie’s Bags in their story about

The Heritage of Green Hills.

Jessie’s Bags - First News Paper Article we cut out this small part of that article & copied it here  for our readers..... Go to the Reading Eagle to read the entire article.....

Thanks Reading Eagle & Heritage Of Green Hills!!!!

Tote bags brighten lives of breast cancer survivors

Thursday November 5, 2015 

 

By Karen Shuey  

 Surrounded by piles of fabric and design sketches, a small group of volunteers who live at The Heritage of Green Hills comes together each week to combine their hearts and talents to bring a smile to breast cancer survivors.

From recycled materials, they make tote bags that are distributed by Jessie's Bags, a Delaware-based  organization that gives away the items to those who have breast cancer and are undergoing treatment at hospitals. Each bag is unique and handmade by volunteers.

Three-time breast cancer survivor Jessie  Moore, 86, started sewing the tote bags nine years ago when she was coping with her own diagnoses. After working in a sewing factory making children's clothing for more than three decades, Moore said she found a purpose by making the tote bags for others who were going through her experience.

"It really builds me up to hear what other people are doing to get through it all," she said during a visit this week to The Heritage. "There's not much I can do at my age to give back but I can still sew."

YEA!!!!!!!!!!

Jessie's Bags on the road to The University Of Delaware

Special thanks to -

Professor Brenda Shaffer Faculty Chair Instructor Director of undergraduate Studies at the University Of Delaware Department Of Fashion.....

Thanks To:
 

 Full time Honors Students Megan Blissick   & Jillian Silverman  who have been assisting Jessie’s Bags with our on line presence......

 They also arranged our evening of Bag making with the campus club 

SEW BABY SEW, and for this we are very grateful. 

They told me they enjoyed the real life hands on experience of applying things they read about or study about. Their participation in our project helps us have an interchange of ideas and skills.

Thanks to the sponsorship of the campus club Sew Baby Sew, A group of 20-30 students joined Jessie in her bag making from 4:30-6:30 on The University of Delaware Campus at Allison Hall Yesterday.

Jessie quickly got to sewing on one of the machines to show the ladies how she makes bags. We had students with no sewing skills and some experts all join our team for a few hours. 

The non-sewers pieced together fabrics & designed pieces to complete bags. Some cut out linings and we now have bags ready to sew. We notice the more volunteers we have the more we accomplish. It also motivates us to keep working. Thanks to all who joined  us.

We are enjoying the partnership with the University Of Delaware and all the students that have been supporting Jessie’s Bags!

Hopefully .... You will see more of these Jessie's Bags  events in the future!!!!

Jessie’s Bags is on the road!

Thanks BELA FIGURA

Thank you Bella Figura!

We love it when people reach out to us because they have heard about what we are doing at Jessie’s Bags.  This week we got a call and received lots of beautiful fabrics compliments of Dana @

 Bella Figura of West Chester Pa. 

Thank you so much for the donations and the suggestions and most of all for reaching out to us.

Jessie’s Bags is able to give away so many beautiful bags because of our supports. The things we are creating are always made with the most beautiful fabrics. If we had to purchase these fabrics we would not be able to afford them. I was not surprised when Dana pointed out one fabric included in a patchwork bag which wholesaled for $125.00 a yard. 

We have very generous supporters and we appreciate all the ways they assist us in making Jessie’s Bags. 

Thank You… Thank You …Thank You!

Woman down...

We have a woman down…

The sewing has stopped…… Jessie has not been sewing for the last 10 days.

She complained of pain in her right shoulder. So I took her to the medical aid unit. They took an x-ray and sent her home. Nothing was broken. That’s good. They gave her meds for the pain. The next thing we noticed was the entire area turned black and blue and her muscle looked like Popeye’s. This is a concern since she is on blood thinners…oh no is it a blood clot…  So now we go to the primary care doctor, now she tells us to see an orthopedic doctor she thinks it is a torn bicep. Jessie was very upset with this news…we still don’t know how this happened and we don’t know what to expect. I reassured her at least it wasn’t cancer, or a blood clot. It seems these were the things we have been going through most recently Breast cancer surgeries and blood clots….. I told her you have to have something unique you are one of a kind…

Of course this happens after she has committed to pioneering for 2 months straight. This means she is devoting 50 hours to talking to people about the Jehovah God and the bible in September and 30 hours for the month of October. Much of her time was spent writing letters to people she knows and to breast cancer survivors. These notes she puts with the bags she gives to survivors this is one way  she shares some comfort from the  bible.

Since this injury is to her right side she is not writing much…. But she is still talking.

And for now the sewing is being done by other volunteers…..

I will be putting up a help wanted sign at Booths Corner. Hopefully we will get some much needed help.

Woman down …..We have a woman down……

A new vendor and free samples@ Jessie's Bags

 You have to stop in to see what’s going on at Jessie’s Bags Booths Corners Location.

Jessie’s Bags has new bags every week. If you see something you like don’t expect it to be there next week. Especially the unique Jeans Bags they are constantly moving in and out.

Come in sit down and visit with Jessie when she is there. Learn  about the Breast Cancer RESOURCES we have used in the past, and we can even  give you information about Bankers Life Insurance options for survivors,  

 Jessie has more aches and pains these days but we have a new vendor in Jessie’s Bags. This product is called Real Time Pain Relief.  This is good stuff! Stop and get a free sample. It works and it’s made from natural products. We love it.

 October we will have samples of Olive Oil &  flavored Balsamic, from TERRA FOODS 

   

We have items that have been donated to us pictures, stools tea pots. We have Up cycled items and new stuff. You have to stop in to see what’s going on at Jessie’s Bags Booths Corners Location.

Jessie's Bags Coping With Cancer

This was our first month at our new permanent location in Booths Corner Farmers market……

 Jessie’s Bags Coping with Cancer.

This experience has been very exciting and tiring. We are very busy every day sewing and planning .Then we work long days at the 9-9 market on Friday and 9-8 on Saturdays.

The whole reason I wanted to open this location is to be able to reach out to more survivors. It may be of other types of cancer but ours is Breast cancer. We want are sharing our story and listening to other survival stories. We have shared tears and hugs with the survivors and their families. We talk about the life altering events we are going through. We share bible verses that have encouraged us. The 34^th Psalms in verse 4 that reminds us that Jehovah can rescue us from all of our frights and fears.

Sometimes the frights and fears are the most overwhelming things. The unknown this brings on fears, the fear of what if, can loom large before us.  The waiting the wondering, this is where the stress comes in.

 I have to keep reading the bible it helps me maintain my sanity this is how I cope with the Cancer.           I think talking to others helps also. This is my Jessie’s Bags support group. We share resources and ideas. We write notes to encourage others. We share experiences. We share things we read that encourage us.  The bible at Matthew chapter 6 verse 34 says “So never be anxious about the next day, for the next day will have its own anxieties. Each day has enough of its own troubles.”

Jessie’s Bags Coping with Cancer 

Booths Corner Farmers Market We are open!

New Beginnings......our first day at Booths Corner Farmers Market 7-31-15

So it Begins......................

This was an exciting day for Jessie and her Bags. We began a new chapter in our story. We opened our first location Jessie’s Bags Coping with Cancer.

 We want to tell people about Jessie what she has been through and how she makes bags every day to help her cope with her cancer. We are giving out information about the programs that worked for us and the resources we have discovered along our journey.

 We met a few survivors they sat down and talked to us about their experiences. Our family and friends stopped by to wish us well and saw the new location. 

 Jessie got a dozen roses to welcome her to the neighborhood. She enjoyed that….  

             

We managed to sell a few bags and a throw and a pillow. 

Over all it was a very good day. And today we begin it again…………….

Starting Today July 31,2015 ………….

Mid-level at Booth’s Corner Farmers Market

Jessie’s Bag’s Coping With Cancer

Come tell us your story & we’ll tell you ours…….

Resting at home!

Jessie had her procedure and did not have to stay in the hospital!

She is home resting.

 NO lifting or strenuous activities for the next week. So that means no sewing on the machine. 

She is going to hate that.

 You know she has to stay busy and she loves to sew.

If she feels good we may put her to work doing some hand sewing.these are some things I put together while waiting for the surgery to be over.....

Thanks for all of the support and prayers!

the stressful night before a procedure

The night before a procedure breast cancer or not is always stressful. 

Its going to be a long night!

The wondering about the future… the questioning should she or we be doing this… the praying for a calm mind and heart...

 The thoughts that I need to sleep so I can be fresh and not exhausted tomorrow….

We got the call we have to be there early…

 I will see the sun rise early tomorrow morning….

I'll read the bible              Psalms… 34......

 a little better…

Maybe I will try to rest a little…

.

Tomorrow will be here soon enough……

..

What do you see?

Last week I stopped in to check on Jessie’s Sister at a local nursing home where she has to live.  She no longer can stand and must be helped with daily activities. She does however have a 10 year old falling apart jazzy wheel chair that allows her freedom. She is very active with in her space.

I had not been to see her for about a week due to my being sick. This is not the norm. I randomly stop in several times a week different times of the day. Sometimes more than once a day they will see me & Jessie.

I found her at an  activity. BINGO  She had 2 boards and was busy. she didn't have time to talk to me then..... So ...

 I decided not to stay but as she looked up I noticed her RED EYE.

I asked how long your eye has been red. She said it was like this yesterday.

OK …….

At this point I went back downstairs to the nurse’s station. The shift was starting to change it was around 3 pm.  most of the nurses were around the desk working on reports.  I asked how long her eye has been red. One staff members reply….. Is it red? I didn’t notice.

I have no medical training, the only background I have in care-giving is spending the last 9 years taking care of Jessie and her sister. But as soon as a looked at her I saw noticed the red!

I wonder didn’t you or some nurses give her medications morning and night? 

TWO DAYS Did they look at the person or just hand her something and walk away. How could you not see this?

How did the aid that helps her Dress miss this? She is dependent upon people to toilet her did none of them saw this.

If you have a family member in a nursing home or Facility you must be visible. You must be alert! You must be seen. Do care givers care?

And if you work at a nursing home or facility look the person in the eye and notice the obvious!

I SEE THIS HOW DID YOU MISS IT?

I also see who really cares and pays attention.

 It must be me!

Jessie's Bags loves to travel.....

 Jessie's Bags loves to travel.....
WE  bring our community service project to you   ............................


A Bag building workshop @ your location......

Philly 

New Jersey

Delaware 

Maryland

for details ....... Follow us on FACEBOOK....  & 
       INSTAGRAM # jessiesbags

#jessiesbagsontheroad

Conversations not always what they seem……

Some conversations are straight forward others not so much.

We had to have a conversation about another breast cancer surgery. At our last Cancer doctor’s appointment instead of the all clear I expected   the doctor found a lump. It was a little tender and it was on the scar where the breast was removed 2 years ago. Jessie if she had noticed had never mentioned it to me.  DR Brooks would have removed it then and there however mom is on blood thinners. So now we had to schedule the event…the procedure …the call it what it is surgery!.

This morning I decided we had to have the conversation……. the one that said so much without saying too much.

………Things needed to be discussed.

I asked mom do you want to have this procedure. (Translation do you want to be cut on again you are 86 slowing down is it really worth it. Can you survive it or will it MAKE THE AGEING SITUATION WORSE?)

Her response do you think I need it? (Translation I’m not sure do you think I can survive it?)

More was said…. always with an underlying thought.

At the end of our conversation I could sense she has made up her mind to do this. I know she trust this doctor and that says a lot about why she will have it done.

We don’t know what the future bring but we will proceed forward.

So now we get the test that clears her for the surgery….now we get Jessie off the blood thinners…..  And most of all continue to pray for wisdom for us to make right decisions about this…. We will pray for the doctors and nurses to have the skills & wisdom to do a good job.

I guess the real conversation at least the one I have with myself is am I prolonging her life or am I shortening her life.

I guess it’s like everything else in life you never know till it’s over. There are no do overs. You Make a choice and live with the consequences….. Jessie has made a choice to have the procedure and we will continue forward…..

I just want to be comfortable knowing I am doing my part to keep Jessie around as long as possible.

Procedure scheduled for the end of July…  I will keep you all posted…

The thing I appreciate about Mom is she doesn't sit around and dwell on the negatives. she stays busy... sewing mostly.

Even though we are going through this Breast Cancer issue again for the 3rd time we are focusing  on something else. We are opening a store at Booths Corner Farmers Market where we will have bags for sale  and invite others to see how we are coping with cancer.  This is scheduled to open a week after the procedure .For us coping means not letting the cancer rule your life. we are not letting it stop us. it is not going to define us. we acknowledge it and discuss it and keep moving.this is what works for us.

The next conversation later that day.......

Jessie is downstairs teaching one of the volunteer sewers how to fix her sewing machine…oh boy I think we are going to have to buy her a new machine....... mom it has electronics that may need to be repaired you don’t know how to fix that!…..didn’t I blog about when mom was trying to fix her machine …….

(translation mom you are not a repairman!)

her response (  Translation watch me ....I can fix anything)

I videoed part of this action so you can see it for your self because you have to see it to believe it.....  stay tuned....

Jessie's new adventure coming soon!

Jessie’s Bags will Have a permanent  location at a local farmers market where shoppers will be able to Purchase Jessie's Bags & pillows. We will also  provide  information on products and services unique to survivors. 

. The sale of these products will also be helping fund the bags we give out to Breast Cancer Survivors.

 This upscale boutique styled booth will also offer gift items for survivors. We hope to have scarves, hats, mastectomy & lymph-edema information & supplies along with  Jessie’s Bags.

 We are reaching out to you to ask if you and your company would like to join us. You have the opportunity to rent a space, shelf or display area that will have your products & information represented. If these items are for sale we will have a sales person on site to accept payments. If you would like us to set appointments for you there will be an additional fee which will help fund Jessie’s bags that are given to Breast Cancer Survivors. We are willing to work with your budget for pricing. A variety of options are available. Call Joanne to discuss the best way to showcase your items.

We are hoping for a 6 month minimum commitment from you and your business which will allow time for clients to recognize our presence at this well established location.  This is a unique location close to Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey.

We will promote the opening in the tri state area and hope to get clients from all 3 states.

We will have information about customize Bra fittings with A nonprofit 503-c organization and we will be able to set up appointments for home visits. If you would like to showcase your products in our location along with our bags please e mail me with the details. jessies bags at gmail dot com

Thank you for considering us.

Jessie’s Bags

Joanne Owner & Jessie’s Daughter

    follow us on Facebook &     Instagram #jessiesbags jessiesbags.com