This article originally appeared in the summer 2014 Harker Quarterly.

Five fifth grade girls shared the joy of volunteering during a fun community service project called Sew For Love, in which they sewed needed items for local charities.

Nilisha Baid had heard about the opportunity through her Girl Scouts troop. She had met the Sew For Love organizer at Girl Scouts events and had been wanting to volunteer. So she decided to ask some of her classmates to join her at this year’s 12th annual Sew For Love, which was held on a weekend during the Presidents’ Week break.

She and classmates Ankita Kundu, Advika Phadnis, Pramiti Sankar and Arushi Saxena joined other volunteers who were working in teams on various projects.

Whether busy at the sewing machine, scissors-cutting, hand-sewing or threading, Sew For Love volunteers combined their efforts to produce 871 items in just two days. Completed items included child and adult quilts, pet beds, tote and drawstring bags, fleece hats, bean bag chairs, and small “Pocket Love Bears.”

More details about the Sew For Love project can be found here.