November Volunteer Spotlight: AFG’s Volunteer Department spotlights volunteers who have gone above and beyond

Each month, Alternatives For Girls’ Volunteer Department, highlights volunteers who go above and beyond. In November, the volunteers of AFG’s Sew Great Detroit program were selected for their hard work on one of the program’s largest orders yet!

On November 13th, Sew Great Detroit delivered 175 beautifully handmade canvas totes to the German Marshall Fund’s BUILD Conference. The German Marshall Fund is a Washington D. C. based nonprofit that works with local and regional leaders in the US and Europe on urban policy issues.  This year, the German Marshall Fund chose to host their BUILD conference in Detroit.  While planning for the conference, the Director of the German Marshall Fund, Geraldine Gardner, learned about Sew Great Detroit, and Alternatives For Girls’ mission.

Each year, the German Marshall Fund designs a welcome bag for conference attendees showcasing the talents of the host city’s vendors and artisans.  Believing that the mission of AFG spoke to the values of the BUILD conference – equity, inclusion, and sustainability – she reached out to Sew Great Detroit with the hopes of partnering. Sew Great Detroit’s canvas totes were a perfect fit, and the German Marshall Fund ordered 175 of Sew Great Detroit’s signature tote bags to print their artwork on and use as welcome bags!

To help the young women in Sew Great Detroit complete the order, the Sew Great Detroit volunteers went above and beyond. They worked many hours to cut, fold, and measure in order to meet the deadline. Each volunteer showed a level of dedication well above expectation in order to support the wonderful opportunity for the group. Without them, the tote bags would not have gotten completed in time!

Alternatives For Girls would like to thank the many Sew Great Detroit volunteers who gave so much of their time and talents to this project.  It is because of them that Sew Great Detroit is so great! 

Interested in volunteering? Please contact Jessica Pate, Volunteer Services Manager, at 313-361-4000 ext. 248 or volunteering@alternativesforgirls.org to discuss the next steps to becoming a volunteer at Alternatives For Girls!