Why 99-Year-Old Lillian Weber Sews A Dress A Day
Language
Reading Level
Listen to Article
If you are like most people, you probably do not recall the last time you performed a random act of kindness even for a family member, leave alone complete strangers. But that is exactly what 99-year-old Lillian Weber has been doing every day, since 2011.
Her kind deed? Custom tailoring a pretty dress a day, for a charity organization called "Little Dresses for Africa" that distributes them to impoverished young girls in need of clothing. The Iowa resident said she along with a few friends (all over 80 years of age), decided to help the organization after they watched a documentary about their mission in 2011.
Lillian says she begins working on a new dress every morning and continues till midday, when she stops for a short break. She resumes in the afternoon and continues well into the evening, stopping only after the masterpiece is complete. While a dress a day may appear speedy quick for most people, the 99-year-old seamstress says could be faster, if she didn't put an extra special twist on each of her creations, so that they are all unique.
Since she began, Lillian has sewn over 840 dresses. While her goal is to complete 1,000 before her 100th birthday in May 2015, Lillian plans to continue for as long as she can, simply because she loves doing it. What's amazing is that Lillian's good deeds would have gone unnoticed had it not been for her friend Tonya Urbatsch, who nominated her for Quad Cities television station WQAD's ''Pay it Forward" award, in August. She of course won the award hands down!
It is thanks to people like Lillian that "Little Dresses for Africa" has been able to donate 2.5 million dresses to not just the girls in Africa but also Haiti, Honduras,Thailand, Mexico and even, parts of the United States.
Resources: Huffingtonpost.com,odditycentral.com
Learn Keywords in this Article
313 Comments
isaacgealmost 10 yearsshe got 300 dollars
Ms. Salehalmost 10 yearsHi Isaac, What do you think Ms. Lillian has done with the $300.oo that she earned?
- isaacgealmost 10 yearsshe has made840
- Ms. Salehalmost 10 yearsHi Isaac, That is a lot of dresses. Why do you think she hasn't made any more than this?
- isaacgealmost 10 yearsshe made more dresses
- nickdalmost 10 yearsthese dresses are very cute. I read the story but I cant find some of the answers but I will try to find them. see you soon.
- Ms. Salehalmost 10 yearsHi Nick, which questions are you stuck on? Did you watch the video? Were you surprised by the fact that some of the dresses go to girls here in the United States?
- nickdalmost 10 yearsThese dresses are so cute. I read the story but I cant find some of the answers but I will try to find them see you soon.
- Ms. Salehalmost 10 yearsHi NIck, I like the avatar you made. Very creative! : )
- isaacgealmost 10 yearsi hope she gets to 1000 dresses
- Ms. Salehalmost 10 yearsMe too, Isaac. I think the work that she is doing is very important. Were you surprised that some of her dresses go to girls here in the United States?
- Ms. Salehalmost 10 yearsMe too, Isaac. I really think that Ms. Lillian is doing special work. Did you remember to answer the Critical thinking challenge? Were you surprised that some of her dresses are given to girls in the USA?
judahkalmost 10 yearsit is awesome- Ms. Salehalmost 10 yearsAwesome Judah! Im glad you liked the article. Did you answer the Critical Thinking Challenge Question? Did it surprise you that some dresses are dontated to girls in the USA? Why or Why not?
- judahkalmost 10 yearsi think it wold be a very long time
- Ms. Salehalmost 10 yearsWhat do you think would be a very long time?
crystalmorialmost 10 yearsA dress a day? That's amazing! It takes me weeks to finish an accessory. Of course, that might just be because I never use a sewing machine. I don't even know how to. Lillian kind of reminds me of my grandmother.- kaitlynalmost 10 yearsthat is asone
