No matter the stage of life, you deserve the opportunity to thrive. This article series is presented by Brethren Care Village, a retirement community in Ashland.
If you could make a difference in the world, how would you do it? The answer was easy for Marianne Gates.
Marianne Gates is a resident at Brethren Care where she resides in the Belmont Tower on campus. She spends her free time piecing together puzzles, reading books and cheering on the Cleveland Guardians. “I eat and sleep. That’s just about my life. Who can do more than that?” Marianne said with a chuckle.
Contrary to her humbleness, Gates has made an impact by previously being a school teacher in Shelby for 35 years. She continues to change the world one dress at a time with her dear friends by sewing and donating dresses for children in need since 2014.
Gates has been sewing ever since she was a child, around the age of six. Since then, she has been able to create many beautiful items such as quilts, but her passion resides in making dresses for young girls with her sewing group.
Marianne Gates, Lisa Clabaugh, Sharon Stober and two other women have touched hearts in the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Florida, Texas and more.
“We wanted to see a way to make children happy,” Gates said.
The group started their hobby when a friend from a local church created the idea, and since then, the women dedicate their time and join Marianne at Brethren Care every Thursday to hand make dresses in all lengths and sizes to fit young girls. Each of the ladies are able to complete at least one dress every week.
Gate’s on the other hand always seems to find time every day to sew more dresses to add to the lady’s dress quota for the week.
There have been many helpers along the way, including friends who have gone on mission trips around the world, delivering the dresses wherever they go, according to Clabaugh.
“There has always been someone ready to share them or use them, that has never been a problem,” Gates added.
Supplies such as fabric are continuously being donated to the group from those in the community to help the women pursue their mission of making a difference. This has been a budding effort over the years that stems from Gates and her group.
Since the start of their journey, the group of women have donated around 2,000 dresses to those who need them.
“We just never get enough of it. We finish a dress and smile and know a little girl is going to be happy,” Clabaugh said.
The Covid-19 pandemic did not slow these ladies down, as they continued to sew on their own. Once Brethren Care allowed visitors again, the Thursday dress making tradition picked right back up where it left off.
When asked what the group’s favorite part is about what they do, Gates pointed to a picture of a little girl holding up a dress and with a smile said, “This is why we do it.”
“Just being together and knowing you are doing something good,” Clabaugh and Stober added.
To learn more about how your loved ones can continue to thrive in a comfortable, safe and engaging community, learn more about living at Brethren Care at the Belmont Tower.
