For the children of Haiti

Watching all the devastation in Haiti this week has left me wondering how I could possibly help. My son Mark shed some light for me. As we were discussing possible college majors for him, he said he felt he needed to use the gifts God had given him. So, applying that simple rule to myself, I decided that I should look at the gifts I have been given. In short order, I realized that one gift I have is my ability to sew, it is just something I have always done well, a gift. After giving it some thought I decided that I could make shorts for the children of Haiti. Shorts are fairly easy to make. Children's shorts are particularly easy and I can use the same pattern for boys or girls. If I put elastic in the waist, the shorts will fit without having to know an exact waist size. So, I have decided, I will make a simple short, use really cute fabric to make them special. My son Matthew and my daughter-in-law Jennifer sent me the movie Julie and Julia, a very inspiring movie. After watching the movie, I decided to make this a challenge. I have decided that if I took weekends off, I could make 20 pair of shorts every day 5 days a week, 100 pair of shorts a week, for 52 weeks a year, a total of 5200 pair of shorts in a year. Allowing for impositions on my time and possible illness I am sure I will be able to make 5000 pair of shorts for the children of Haiti. So, my challenge is this: By January 18, 2011 I will have made, by myself, 5000 pair of shorts for the children of Haiti. I will begin tomorrow, January 18, 2010.