Stitching the Legacy of the American Red Cross

by David Warren, volunteer contributor

Saturday, June 13th is National Sewing Day, for generations seamstresses and tailors across the country have donated their time and talent to the American Red Cross. Here in the Dallas/Fort Worth service area we are privileged to still have a fully functioning production room. 

Working with Roosevelt-era equipment can make people grouse, even the ladies of the Red Cross’ Production Room. 

When sewing and knitting hundreds of baby blankets, caps and gowns, quilts, slippers and other handmade items; it’s essential to have sewing machines that hum. But the ones used in the Production Room operated as smoothly as a failing presidential campaign. 

Marcia Bauer, lead volunteer of the Production Room, put some change together and arranged for two new ones. The ladies of the room are humming to a steadier beat, while stitching together the garments that bring comfort to those at delicate points in their lives. 

“We’re the only existing production room supported by a Red Cross chapter,” Bauer explains. 

The rooms were a staple of many Red Cross chapters during World War II as volunteers assembled bags of socks, knitted caps and other items for soldiers. When the war ended, the Production Room for the American Red Cross North Texas Region turned more of its attention locally. 

Hundreds of hand-made comfort items were provided for infants and others at hospitals in the Metroplex. Cloth covers and baby blankets went to neonatal intensive care units, lap robes and slippers went to adult patients, and others benefited from specialty items like wheelchair caddies. Some clothes are created as final garments for stillborn infants. 

Occasionally, large quilts and blankets are sent to the Ronald McDonald House near the Red Cross offices in Dallas. Other knitted caps go to the Salvation Army. 

It seems those who volunteer with Bauer seldom have idle hands. In the fiscal year ending June 2014, more than 30 people and about a dozen groups volunteered more than 21,700 hours to produce a list of items as long as Jack’s beanstalk: more than 2,600 baby caps, 145 security blankets, 524 pillows, 170 caps and scarves, more than 700 cooling neck wraps. And that’s just a sampling. 

Bauer says generally about five volunteers gather each Tuesday morning to sew, and that another 30 or so work from their homes. Bauer began volunteering in the Production Room in 1996 and says it’s become “a never-ending flow of things” made by her volunteers. 

“The hospitals take it all and they want more,” says Bauer, a Dallas resident and the mother of two grown daughters, both of whom contribute to the Production Room. 

Bauer said it’s fulfilling to provide a measure of comfort to people in need of aid or at a difficult point in their lives. 

“I just get a great satisfaction from helping people,” she says. 

But Bauer believes a high standard has been set for her. The Production Room is named for Albina Young, who devoted more than 50 years of service to the Red Cross. Few others have committed more of their time or shown more selflessness. 

“With a model like that to live up to, you feel like 20 years is nothing,” Bauer said.

If you know of a sewing group interested in partnering with the Production Room, contact us online at www.redcross.org/DFW.

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Volunteers Carry on Tradition of Knitting, Sewing and Crocheting for a Good Cause

by Heather Wedel, Communications Specialist, American Red Cross North Texas Region

Knitting, sewing and crocheting have been tools American Red Cross volunteers have been using since World War II to give back. For active soldiers, Red Cross volunteers would knit wool socks to help prevent trench foot and to give the soldiers a sense of comfort and love from home. 

The tradition has carried on now for more than 80 years and is still going strong in the Dallas Area Chapter. Every Tuesday from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., volunteers come to the chapter and dedicate their time to produce over 40 individual items. The items made include: layettes for newborns and still-borns, baby caps and booties, blankets, slippers, wheel chair caddies, bibs, chemotherapy caps, cooling neck wraps for soldiers and more. 

Charlotte, a Red Cross volunteer for more than 30 years,
 with one of her specialty items, a "Textured Worm"
 used as a comfort item for children in the hospital

A "Special Layette" which will go to Parkland Hospitals
for still-born babies

Around 36 volunteers help with this initiative, with an average of five volunteers in the production room every Tuesday, and the rest working remotely from all around North Texas, from the Panhandle to the far east. The items made go to Parkland Hospital, Children's Medical Center, Veteran's Administration Medical Center, Ronald McDonald House, Camp Maxey Canteen, USO, Medical City Dallas and St. Vincent DePaul Society. 

The production room, now named "Albina's Production Room" is named after the team's previous volunteer leader, Albina Young. Albina and her husband Bob were passionate and dedicated volunteers to the Red Cross, volunteering for almost 50 years. Albina and her husband were over 90-years-old when they stopped volunteering due to injuries in a car accident. 

When Albina retired from team leader, Marcia Bauer took over the role. After Marcia moved back to the Dallas area, and her children were grown, she began looking for volunteer opportunities. She recalls her husband recommending the Red Cross and her reacting with "Well yeah, I know, I'm aware of the Red Cross...," but then her husband said, "But did you know you could sew at the Red Cross?" 

"Realizing I could actually use my talent to help the Red Cross is what got me to get involved," said Marcia. 

Marcia has been asked to speak at several volunteer recognition events to share her Red Cross experience. At one event, Marcia mentioned that she needed to learn how to knit, and the next Tuesday she walked into the production room to find a basket with knitting materials and instructional books from the Red Cross. 

When asking Marcia why she volunteers, she stated, "They need me, and I enjoy being here, I enjoy the people, and I get to do what I like, which is sewing and knitting." Another volunteer, Julie Muse, jokingly chimed in, "and talking." 

From left to right: Marcia Bauer, Charlotte Kleinfelder and Julie Muse

"The one thing I always point out is that we deal in comfort," said Marcia. "But the one time we deal in disaster is providing layettes for the still-born babies, because that is a gigantic disaster. But just thinking about all of the things we do, all of them provides some form of comfort."

Julie Muse, a Red Cross volunteer working with a handmade piece

The day we visited the production room three ladies were sewing, knitting and crocheting: Marcia who has been volunteering for more than 15 years, Charlotte who has been volunteering for more than 30 years and Julie who has been volunteering at the Red Cross for two years. 

The production room volunteers have been recognized at many events, and the American Red Cross Dallas Area Chapter is so glad to have them! If you'd like to volunteer in the production room or are interested in other Red Cross volunteer opportunities, visit RedCross.org. 

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Honoring a Red Cross Hero

Thank you, Albina. We Will Miss You

Written by Catherine Carlton, Volunteer Contributor

We lost one of our own last month. Albina Young, a long-time Red Cross volunteer, passed away at the age of 100. 

She spent the majority of her life doing what all of us hope to be able to say about ourselves: she loved and she helped others.

Albina was married for 75 years to her loving husband, Robert. And she spent 67 years selflessly volunteering with the American Red Cross. Her tenure started during World War II by knitting sweaters for soldiers. She did this from the Production Room in Dallas, Texas. If you stop by there today, you’ll see a quilt hanging on the wall indicating it’s “Albina’s Production Room.” 

After the war, the need for sweaters and socks for soldiers had quieted so Albina and her crew began knitting for babies at Parkland and Children's hospitals. They met weekly in the Production Room and engaged home-bound volunteers by delivering materials, picking up finished booties and caps, and then delivering them to children in need. 

When Albina and Bob could no longer drive, they continued to volunteer from their retirement home. At the age of 99, Albina reluctantly retired from her Red Cross service. 

She is described by her Red Cross family as “dedicated, strong, vibrant, confident and capable.” 

“She was born in 1911, the same year the chapter began, which is remarkable,” said Susie Spartano, director of volunteer services for the Red Cross. “She received a 55-year pin and several other awards from the Red Cross and other agencies for her service to the community.”

“When I first began working here, Albina was 89. She was full of fire and full of energy. She was gung ho,” Susie continued. “She could run the production room with complete confidence. Every week for years and years she had a staff of four or five volunteers who would sew under her guidance. She is inspiring.”

Albina’s family has honored her dedication to the Red Cross by requesting that memorial donations from friends and family be made to the American Red Cross. While writing this story, we learned that Bob has now joined Albina. He passed away on Christmas Eve. We are a better organization because of their service. Our heart goes out to the Young family as we also miss this tremendous couple each time we pass her Production Room. 

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