Volunteers sew stockings for soldiers overseas

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Volunteers sew stockings for soldiers overseas

Dan Speicher And Patrick Varine | Tuesday, September 10, 2019 12:01 a.m.

Dan Speicher | Tribune-Review

Co-chairs Martha O’Lear (left), and Margaret “Rusty” Frankoski, take a break after preparing lunch for more than 100 people who work to sew 5,000 Christmas stockings that will be sent to soldiers deployed overseas, at Murrysville Alliance Church in Murrysville, on Thursday, Aug. 22, 2019. The event is organized by co-chairs Margaret “Rusty” Frankoski, and Martha O’Lear, both of Murrysville, who prepare all of the patterns for the stockings, and work with Summer Tissue, of Penn Hills, the founder of Military Connections, to distribute the stockings to soldiers.

Volunteers recently spent time sewing what they hope will make a happy holiday season for soldiers overseas.

The American Sewing Guild and Penn Hills nonprofit Military Connections hosted the sewing day at Murrysville Alliance Church, creating stockings which will be stuffed with snacks, candy and other treats.

“It’s a great day,” said organizer Margaret “Rusty” Frankoski in mid-July, when she had nearly 4,500 stockings already boxed up in her basement. “We serve lunch, and veterans from the church help carry the sewing machines in and set up the sewing tables.”

Volunteers are asked to bring their own sewing machine, extension cord and basic sewing supplies. They are provided with stocking patterns and the material to create them.

Volunteers have sewn about 5,000 stockings each of the past two years.

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