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Name: Wendy Skinner |
| I write to commend Wendy Skinner as one of the 20 Outstanding Women You Should Know for this year. Wendy has been the architect and driving force behind the SewGreen Collective. Wendy organizes the annual Eco-Fashion contest that has become a local phenomenon and an eagerly anticipated annual experience around Earth Day. She has also organized free fabric and clothing swaps around the community. Under Wendy's leadership, SewGreen students learn about sustainable textiles, effective clothing design principles, and re-fashioning techniques. People in our community youngsters, recent immigrants, low-income homemakers, college students, simple living advocates are all reclaiming sewing skills and learning new textile and craft skills which enable them to create unique clothing items and maintain the wearability and appearance of their wardrobe items. I have witnessed the tremendous potential of re-fashioning to fire the imagination of participants and to offer a unique springboard to further engage them in changing some of their consumption patterns and make more sustainable decisions. Participants who had the privilege of working with Wendy as a mentor have been attracted to the creative problem-solving and scope for personal expression offered by these re-fashioning projects, and they are gratified to learn of the additional environmental and economic benefits of such adaptive reuse of clothing. SewGreen students learn transferable lessons about making more informed purchasing decisions and modifying their consumptive habits. Creating one-of-a-kind fashion statements is certainly empowering to young women, but interestingly, some of the most enthusiastic "converts" to re-fashioning have been young men. Please give Wendy Skinner all due consideration for this recognition. Nominated by Marian Brown Wendy Skinner, director of Ithaca's nonprofit SewGreen is one of the most inspirational women I know. She has a wonderful ability to connect with people of all ages in a way that communicates her compassion, kindness, and humor. She is a generous spirit who models happiness and makes those around her feel valued and cared for. Wendy also works tirelessly to improve SewGreen and reach as many people as she can. Nominated by Emilia Garcia Wendy started a truly unique reuse organization in Ithaca called SewGreen. The not-for-profit organization accepts fabric and sewing machines for reuse in the SewGreen's classroom, where volunteers teach children, teens, and adults to sew! I'm a senior at Cornell University and I've been volunteering with SewGreen for 2 years. I supervise teen nights on Friday night and also began volunteering at SewGreen's store when it opened in November. Wendy is a truly amazing, creative, enthusiastic person who has taught so many people, helped to spread the spirit of reuse, inspired me to further my passion for creative reuse and sewing, and helped so many teenage girls to grow and become responsible, creative young women. I am really proud of the girls I have seen grow and and become skilled seamstresses (apprentices) in just 2 years, and I am really proud of Wendy for starting this amazing organization and continuing to bring excitement to the volunteers who keep everything running. Her newest idea, to start up the SewGreen store to fund SewGreen classes and help SewGreen stand on its own legs, has been a major hit! I love coming into the store every week and seeing the unique fabrics, old sewing machines, and sewing notions that change weekly because customers come to donate their fabric and buy things so often. The opening of the store is a step toward independence for Wendy and her organization. I really think she deserves this award. Thank you for your time! Nominated by Chelsea Clarke About two years ago I became involved with the SewGreen project. The founder, Wendy Skinner has taken an idea and turned it into a one of a kind GREEN fabric sustanibility, reuse and much needed enjoyment of sewing to young and old people that might not have had the opportunity. During my junior high days, home economics was a real class that taught sewing. Now there is nothing, but 4H or something out of the realm of school. The youth programs - internships, teaching assistants, and helping with the classes - learning to sew, fixing you machine,re-do projects, prom dress and Halloween Ball. Sewing for the community, with projects such as Carolina bags, aprons for Hospice and others. And for me the big one, teaching 8-12 yr old boys and girls the joy of learning how to sew, starting a project and finishing with a functional item - pillow or backpack. The retail store was another brillant idea - sell the donated materials, sewing machines, and all types of accessories such as zippers, thread, scraps, buttons that would have ended up in the land fill. Nominated by Rebecca Johnson I would like to nominate Wendy Skinner for her outstanding effort on launching, coordinating and supervising the Sew Green organization in Ithaca, which promotes the re-use and re-cyling of fabric and clothing. Nominated by Alicia Orta-Ramirez Wendy Skinner is the founder and program coordinator for SewGreen. SewGreen, a New York State non-profit, promotes sustainability in our use of fabric, fiber and fashion. Wendy has been an untiring promoter of her organization, working in particular to ensure that children of all ages learn the art of sewing, particularly individuals from underserved communities. Literally tons of fabric and other sewing materials have been diverted from the landfill and reused or recycled for reuse. In addition hundreds of local Ithacans have learned sewing, sewing machine repair, and retail skills. I think Wendy is certainly one of the "20 Outstanding Women" that I know. Nominated by Thomas Shelley SewGreen is a community group that offers sustainable sewing classes, and facilitates in getting previously purchased sewing materials (that would otherwise be thrown out or sit in buckets in the attic) into the hands of people who will use them. It offers a place for youth to form a community, learn to sew, and refashion their wardrobe instead of replacing it. Wendy Skinner is solely responsible for creating and keeping SewGreen alive through all or it's changes in the past few years. She has worked tirelessly with a team of dedicated volunteers, but Wendy is what keeps the whole operation together. She schedules the classes and volunteer teachers, runs the store most of the time, teaches classes, applies for funding, handles all the incoming emails.... the list is too long to say everything. But she definitely is at the top of my list of the top 20 outstanding women you should know. Nominated by Katie Sullivan Wendy Skinner of SewGreen, an Ithaca non-profit dedicated to reuse, is one of my absolute favorite people in the world and more people should know Wendy. Wendy founded SewGreen to promote the reuse of fabrics and materials that were ending up in the landfill. SewGreen provides classes and workshops that teach children, teens, and adults how to recycle and upcycle materials, and this frequently involves teaching people basic sewing skills. Schools no longer teach home ec the way they did in the fifties, and many younger people today lack these skills. She recruits "sewing teachers" from all over the community. Many of the teachers who volunteer are retirees, and in this way, she is connecting the younger and older generations in our community through SewGreen. It is truly a multi-generational organization with children, high schoolers, university students, professionals, and retirees all interacting to promote reuse. How cool is that?! Wendy motivates kids to learn, gains the trust and admiration of teens seeking role models, and inspires people to try new roles as both teachers and learners, no matter what stage of their life they are at. You should know Wendy Skinner- she makes it happen! Nominated by Melissa Bazley I nominate Wendy Skinner, the head of Sew Green. Sew Green is a nonprofit organization that is dedicated both to keeping textiles out of the waste stream and to educating community members. Nominated by Susan Mueller |
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