They’ve churned out more than 3,000 sleeping bags for the homeless since the mid-1990s. But this isn’t a factory. It’s Sleeping Bag Stitchers, a group of dedicated women who have been giving their free time for a cause for the past 16 years.
It all started around 1991 when Donna DiGilio read a magazine article about a program stitching sleeping bags for the homeless, started by a woman in Massachusetts. DiGilio sewed them in her car for a few years before starting the group at St. Giles Catholic Church in Oak Park.
Sixteen years and 3,000 sleeping bags later, the sun has set on the group. DiGilio is now 83 and wants to spend her time in other ways, such as with her 19 grandchildren. She put a call out about a year ago to see if anyone else wanted to lead the group, but no one stepped forward, so the group folded at the end of July.
“I really wanted out. I didn’t want to do it anymore,” she said. “I still like the idea, and I would help anybody get a group started.”
Things were further complicated because the classroom that the stitchers have been using for the past seven years needed to be reclaimed by the school. The two sides shared the room during the week, but St. Giles has seen a growing demand for religious education, said Pastor Carl Morello.
Stitchers has demanding space needs, with several sewing machines, and stacks of material. St. Giles would try to accommodate them if someone stepped forward to take over the group, but it might be tough to find a spot.
“It was a huge setup,” Morello said. “They really kind of grew into this whole classroom, and I’m not sure that a parish this size, with the activity here, would be able to give up such a space for one day a week.”
Still, DiGilio hopes that someone might step forward and try to reach her through the parish office, at 708-383-3430.
All together, the group included about 13 people who came in and helped over the years. They worked assembly-line style, churning out about 30 sleeping bags a month from leftover materials such as mattress pads, drapes and men’s neck ties. They were then shipped over to the French nuns at the Fraternite Notre Dame, 502. N. Central Ave. in Chicago, to be distributed to the homeless.
Oak Parker Jeriann Walsh has taken part in the group for the past five years and said the women definitely built friendships. She enjoyed more than other sewing groups because what they produced had a purpose.
“This was actually something that people could use, and yet you could have a little bit of creative expression with it,” she said.
