150 bags

Here at Jessie’s Bags...We are in the process of making bags every day.

This month however we have stepped up the process because we have 3 events where we will give out bags to groups of people. 

The first event is in 9 days. So we have 8 days to finish 50 or more bags for this event. We committed to 50 bags. But since we are over achievers we would like to give extra. This is a breast cancer event at the Philadelphia library. We know there may be 150 guests at that event. It is very unlikely that we will be able to make bags for everyone there but…. we would love to ….maybe we will be able to give away 75…

. We will just keep working at it. I know we have 25 totally completed for this as of today! Who knows maybe some sewing volunteers will step up and help us get it done….

The one thing for sure is 86 year old Jessie is sewing her heart out…

This is supposed to be a no stress work zone…

                                     

Oh well it’s time to get to work….

Bag making!

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MOM loved her bag!

A good experience…

Today I called a (new location) nursing home & assisted living facility to speak with the activities director. As I explained that we make bags and want bring our mobile community service project into this location, the worker who answered the phone told me her mother a breast cancer survivor had received a bag a while ago. With a few more questions we established it was one of our drop off locations a year or so ago. Her mother loved that bag.  And now she cherishes that bag because it meant so much to her mom. 

WOW… It had to be one of Jessie’s bags.

 We described the patchwork style and she excitedly said that’s it. She had no idea who made the bag but her mother loved it.

I was really excited to hear that.

 Our bags and notes of encouragement are like seeds that we scatter all around. We don’t know where the seeds will land but we hope they brighten someone’s day, and encourage them during a difficult time.

 Our bags are hand made with love and care by Jessie and other volunteers…

We don’t usually know who gets one of Jessie’s Bags but we give it out with a hand written note that contains message of encouragement.

WE have been making bags for 9 years now. WE have given away hundreds of the bags we make to Breast cancer survivors and other cancer patients. Bags have been dropped off in Delaware and Pennsylvania.

Most of our bags we don’t hand out personally, Because of HIPPA laws we don’t have access to names of survivors so it is all random who gets a bag. We have locations where survivors go for supplies and we have dropped off bags for the workers at that location to give out Jessie’s Bags. Some of our bags are handed out at the patients homes. Some of our bags were given out at our booths corner location.

It was so nice to know one of Jessie’s Bags (the seeds) encouraged the receiver and is still loved. Nice to know the bags are appreciated. Hopefully we will meet this woman if we are invited to this location to do Jessie’s bag building work shop.

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#jessiesbagsontheroad

The cost of doing business..

This is the last day we will have a store front at Booths Corner Farmers Market.

We opened the doors in august a few days after Jessie’s 3rd Breast Cancer surgery. Opening this store gave us something new to focus on. Jessie loved being there meeting other survivors .

We tried it and enjoyed. When we looked at the big picture for Jessie and her bags we have to make an adjustment.

When you do the math it did not pay for us to have this location open.

 One weekend we paid our rent and only sold 1 bag for $15.00. I had no one to work that weekend so I worked 2 full days at the market.12 hours one day and 11 hours the next day. Even though this location was only open two days a week … It cost me 23 hours of time. And this is volunteer time. Not paid time… So at the end of the day we were working on a deficit.

 It cost $ money to rent the space.

 It cost time and energy to coordinate and juggle the rest of my life around these two days.

I try not to regret the choices I make in life.and I don’t regret this experience. I learned that I do not want to be a retail business.

The old saying is do what you love and the money will come. ( in 2016 we will see if this is true!)

We enjoy making bags and giving them to breast cancer survivors. We enjoy taking Jessie’s bags into new locations. We enjoy getting others involved in working on the bags. We enjoy meeting and working with new friends.

So in 2016 you will see Jessie’s Bags on the road. We will be going places and meeting people. We are taking our show on the road. Hopefully the money will come to support our activities.

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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!