The San Mateo Sewing Center started as a project by the mothers of students attending the Holy Cross Anglican School. The mothers were searching for ways to be more productive, and contacted Kim Shackelford who spearheaded the San Mateo Empowerment project and played a key role in realizing the dream of having streets in the San Mateo area.
Collectively the women decided that a sewing group would be ideal. With the objective to be able to provide affordable uniforms for the local community while providing employment opportunities to the mothers, the San Mateo Sewing Center was underway.
Through the efforts of Vernon Wilson, sewing machines were donated, while various volunteer teams and individuals donated supplies, funds and sewing lessons to bring the ladies up to speed.
The Center started in June with only three ladies and in just a few short weeks over the summer break, the ladies learned how to sew girl’s uniforms, hand bags and other items which could be sold commercially. The group has now grown to ten women; all who are mothers of students attending the Holy Cross Anglican School and residents of San Mateo.
It is planned that proceeds from the Center will provide full wages for the seamstresses as well as assist in the school’s feeding program and in the maintaining of the Center such as re-stocking and more.
Holy Cross volunteer coordinator, Lydia Brown expressed to The San Pedro Sun; “I’ve been truly impressed with the dedication of the ladies and their high level of quality and commitment. It’s wonderful to see them have this creative outlet and see them come up with their own ideas of what to sew and sell”.
Presently, the ladies are selling girls grey jumpers at a cost of $15 each to the students at Holy Cross. Although they plan to make trousers and shirts in the future, they are not currently available for sale.
The Center is open and space for more sewers is available to mothers from San Mateo. There is no cost to join. All you need is your sincere interest and commitment to learning and making the center function. The Center is located at the Holy Cross School grounds and is opened from 9am – 5pm Monday to Friday. For further information or to order your uniform, the ladies of the Center may be contacted through Holy Cross at 223-3456.
