Local church makes homemade dresses for girls in need
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MILAN, Tenn. — Every girl is a princess. It’s the message women at Milan First United Methodist Church are sending to girls all over the world. “With a new dress, they are going to feel like they are special, and we want little girls to know that they are special,” Jane Kizer said. Kizer is co-chair of the Princess Project. It was started in October 2014 as a one-time project but now has sent more than 100 homemade dresses to girls in need from rural Tennessee to Tanzania. “Yeah it grew — exponentially,” Co-Chair Karen Freeman said. Freeman said they started with a goal to send 25 dresses to Reelfoot Rural Ministries in Obion, Tenn. by Christmas. “It’s just been such a blessing to see how it’s grown, and we’re just anxious to see where it goes,” Freeman said. Freeman said much of the fabric is donated by church members. Time is also donated from dozens of volunteers who each play a part, from sewing on buttons, to picking out the fabric to covering expenses. Freeman estimates each dress costs $10. Each dress is made to be reversible with a simple flip so the girls receive not one but two dresses. Also included with the dress is “The Princess Prayer.” “Just to remind the little girl whose they are that we do believe they are a princess — they are the daughter of the king of kings,” Freeman said. The women said their favorite part of this is gathering together to complete a project with a purpose. “Knowing that the little girls are going to be loved someone, they have no idea who it is has sent them love,” Kizer said. Freeman says the mission trip delivering 50 dresses to girls in Nicaragua and Tanzania left Sunday. Another 25 are being sent to Haiti in April.
