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‘Crafty Ladies’ aid Roanoke and southwest charities

By Jean Denton
Special to The Catholic Virginian

In October the “Crafty Ladies” of Our Lady of Nazareth Church in Roanoke held their 20th annual craft and bake sale — an event notable for its sustainability as well as the $75,000 it has raised and provided to local charities.

The group of 20–25 women gather at the church every Thursday from January until the October sale, working on crafts and sharing lunch.

Well, that’s not all.

“For most of us our families are grown and gone and some of us are widowed,” noted group coordinator Jean Stump. “So besides using our creative talents, we are so much therapy and comfort to each other.”

A favorite event is the auction of the “annual quilt” that the women make together each year. Parishioners also come to enjoy the group’s offering of baked goods, a white elephant sale and a tasty lunch.

However they enjoy one another, these women apparently are industrious in their creative activity and they are pleased that all the funds they raise — last year’s total was $7,000 — go outside the parish to provide for people in need.

Recent beneficiaries of the women’s efforts include small parishes in far southwest Virginia as well as an agency in Norton that provides health care for the indigent and employment assistance.

The group also gives continuing financial support to Roanoke’s Valley Home for adults with disabilities, St. Francis House food pantry, a children’s crisis center and contributes to the cost of health insurance for the women who run the Madonna House prayer ministry in downtown Roanoke.

Last year after parishioners chose items from Valley Home residents’ wish lists to give at Christmas, the Crafty Ladies were able to buy all the items left on the list, Ms. Stump said.

The group also purchased a new generator for a residential care facility for elderly veterans.

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