Recordpub.com - Bandage rollers help Haiti: Ravenna church group responds to aid request

Alice Hyer, a Kent resident, works on sewing the edges of bandages for the Haiti relief effort at The Ravenna First Church of the Nazarene. When asked about the relieft projecy Hyer states, " You can give money but also, now, we have this hands on thing. It's more fullfilling and fun."

By Diane Smith

Record-Courier staff writer

The “Bandage Rollers” at the Ravenna First Church of the Nazarene have always found treasure in what some people consider trash.

Now, the thrifty group is working overtime to meet the needs of people affected by the earthquakes in Haiti.

The group of seniors, which had been meeting every other Tuesday in the church basement for the past 14 years, has stepped up its effort. This week, the group has met daily to make and package thousands of bandages, made from torn, stained and threadbare sheets.

“They can be old, worn out sheets, white, solid, printed or colored,” said Mary Anna Blankenship, who leads the group. “The only thing we can’t use is flannel sheets or ones that are more than 55 percent polyester. They don’t make good bandages.”

The group typically makes bandages to send with doctors headed to Papua, New Guinea. Bandages also are sent to India and Africa when there is a need.

This time, Nazarene Compassionate Ministries has made a request for bandages to be sent to Haiti. The group is mailing boxes of bandages to Florida, where a group bound for Haiti has agreed to take them on its ship.

The group, which has made and packaged about 1,500 bandages this week, plans to work today and possibly Friday to make as many bandages as possible.

Church member Edna Fulper, who participated in a similar ministry at the Kent Church of the Nazarene, introduced the ministry to the Ravenna congregation. Blankenship, who used to work at the Kent church, used to watch Fulper’s group do its work.

“I was so fascinated by it,” she said. When she was encouraged to bring the ministry to Ravenna, she initially refused, but “I guess the Lord coerced me into doing it.”

The group of about a dozen people, mostly women and a few husbands, gather every other Tuesday to pack bandages. Participants typically range in age between 61 and 88 years of age.

“Everyone is welcome to come,” she said.

The members tear the bandages into strips about three inches wide, then take the strings off each side of the strip. A few people stationed at sewing machines sew two strips together. The hand-made machines used for rolling, created from a block of wood and a heavy piece of wire, were created by the late Clark Lemley. Using these machines, they roll the bandages tightly, tying them with a piece of string.

It takes about 12 to 14 sheets, depending on the size, to fill a box of 120 to 130 bandages. Even the smaller ends of the sheets are rolled into “baby bandages” good for an adult finger or toe, or the arm or leg of a small child.

“We roll them as tight as we can,” she said. “We use flat rate boxes, and you can send as many as you can in those. I’m ever mindful of the cost.”

To raise money for postage, the group collects aluminum cans donated to the ministry, and recycles them. Donations also are accepted. Those interested in helping with the project or making a donation may call Blankenship at 330-325-7145 or Sherely Sears at 330-296-3969.

Blankenship said thin and threadbare sheets of any size make the best bandages. The group won’t use brand new sheets, and any that are donated are given to the County Clothing Center. “I consider that wasteful,” she said.

She said postage costs are mounting for the mountain of bandages that need to be shipped to Florida, but quickly added, “God will provide.”

“Every problem that we’ve had in this ministry, God has taken care of,” she said, describing times that a van full of sheets and a truckload of cans were donated to the ministry. “He cares about them more than we ever could.”