How Dearborn County's Retired Teachers Clothed Thousands of Children Worldwide

Submitted by the Dearborn County Retired Teachers Association, an affiliate of the Indiana Retired Teachers Association

It started with a single pillowcase dress.

In 2010, Jeraldine "Gerry" Barber read about sundresses sewn from pillowcases in a United Methodist Women newsletter. She found a pattern online, made one to show the Thursday morning retired teachers' coffee group at the Lawrenceburg Public Library, and asked whether the group could sew a dozen for a mission team headed to Haiti the following spring.

The dozen dresses were just the beginning.

The seven women enjoyed the project so much that their Thursday coffee chats gave way to sewing together. Early sundresses were made the size of a standard pillowcase, with seam binding for straps. As donations poured in, the group outgrew its space, and Mary Beth Hedrick, a retired teacher and director of the Lawrenceburg Community Center, opened the facility's doors to them.

In 2013, Gerry suggested they add shorts for boys, drawing on a pajama pattern she'd once made for her grandsons. The first pair of boys' shorts followed soon after. Over time, the group adjusted its patterns to create dresses and shorts in sizes for ages 2 to 4, 5 to 9, and 10 to 14, largely because churches packing Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes kept asking for different sizes.

Word spread through mission teams, newspaper articles, and neighbors telling neighbors. What began as a favor for one mission trip became a steady pipeline of handmade clothing reaching children in countries around the world.

The numbers tell the rest of the story. The group didn't start keeping records until 2018, but since then nearly 15,000 items of clothing have been sewn by the hands and hearts of women right here in Dearborn County and sent to children across the globe.

The sewing group is one of the most visible efforts of the Dearborn County Retired Teachers Association, but it's far from the only one. The organization gathers four times a year, on the third Tuesday of April, June, August, and October, for food, fellowship, and fun, and its members pour volunteer hours into the community year-round. It's a community of retired educators who never really stopped serving. In 2026, the group's service focus is Cincinnati Children's Hospital, collecting new books, coloring books, crayons, and other supplies for patients and their siblings. Members also support the Dearborn County Recycling Center, Reality Check programs in local middle schools, elementary enrichment days, and countless quiet individual acts, from baking for neighbors to reading in a grandchild's classroom.

The association's foundation extends that impact to teachers directly, awarding sixteen grants to area educators in 2025, with the 2026 recipients to be honored this August.

For all that reach, the heart of the effort remains simple and local. Every Thursday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., except during the summer break in June and July and a December pause for the holidays, volunteers gather at the Lawrenceburg Community Center with portable sewing machines, a drink, and a lunch. You don't have to sew to help, and those who can't make Thursdays are welcome to sew from home. Donations of clean pillowcases, sheets, fabric, lace, rick rack, ribbon, buttons, thread, ladies' hankies, cloth napkins, and embroidered pieces are always appreciated. Fabric suitable for boys' shorts, they note, is an ongoing challenge.

None of the seven women who gathered over coffee in 2010 imagined any of this. Sixteen years later, the stitches are still adding up.

To donate or ask questions, contact Judy Mosier at 513-673-1414, or stop by the Lawrenceburg Community Center on a Thursday between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., starting August 6th. Learn more about the Dearborn County Retired Teachers Association at dearbornrta.org.