Grandmas’ Stocking Guild celebrating 10 years

For 10 years now, women have gathered around Central Texas to sew Christmas stockings for children and teens they have never met. The stockings come in a variety of colors and patterns — some adorned with bows, beads, sequins and ribbons, some with animals, cars, snowflakes, teddy bears, stars, flowers or planets on them. The stockings have three things in common, though: each one has a silver cross sewn onto it, each one will bear the name of the child it is given to, and each one is made with love.

“It’s very, very special,” said Lisa Brown from New Life, a home for girls in Comal County. “They get that stocking that has their name on it, and no one can take it.”

The Grandmas’ Stocking Guild sewed about 656 stockings this year, with about 65 women participating. The project, which is all donation-based and consists solely of volunteer work, gives stockings to children and teens in foster care by working with organizations like New Life, Pegasus Schools in Lockhart, CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) of Central Texas, the Greater San Marcos Youth Council and others. Suzan Casey, president and founder of Grandmas’ Stocking Guild, said she hopes to be able to expand into San Antonio and Austin and give stockings to the thousands of children in foster care there. 

The children who receive the stockings consider them special gifts; often, they are the first possessions the children receive with their names on them. Moreover, Casey said, the women work to make sure that no two children get identical stockings.

“We want them to know, ‘You are an individual. You are special. God knows you’re special,’” Casey said. “... These kids have been short shifted their whole lives, and we want to be sure they get something special.”

Jessica Thomas from CASA of Central Texas explained that her organization works with children removed from their homes by Child Protective Services.

“They really don’t have a stable person in their lives to advocate for what they need,” she said, until a CASA volunteer steps in to help look after the children’s well-being.

“A lot of these kids … they don’t have possessions, clothes, toys, to take with them,” Thomas said, until they get a stocking with their names embroidered on them. 

“It absolutely means the world to them,” she said. “We really value this program.”

Terry Jackson of the Greater San Marcos Youth Council likewise said the children his organization works with value the Christmas stockings they receive.

“They love their stockings. They keep their stockings,” he said. “And I’m looking forward to this Christmas and making it a big deal.” 

With the stockings all sewn, the next step for the Grandmas Stocking Guild is getting the children’s names and sending the stockings off to get the names embroidered on them. Casey said the embroidery this year will cost about $2,500. Friends of the guild raised $1,400 with a quilt raffle that will help with the costs, Casey said, but more donations are welcome. The guild also accepts donations of items to fill the stockings, such as toothpaste and toys. 

With this year’s collection of stockings, Grandmas’ Stocking Guild has sewn and given out more than 2,300 stockings since its inception 10 years ago.

“When we started this, I had no idea it would go this long,” Casey said. “We never would have got this far without the Lord with us.”

Casey encourages church groups and anyone else who would like to get involved to sew stocking, donate supplies or donate funds to contact her at 830-708-3621 or Judy Guimont at 512-847-7917, or visit the group’s website at www.grandmasstockingguild.org. 

“We are always looking for more children and more people to help us make stockings,” Casey said.

Although none of the workers in the guild get paid, the work brings other forms of reward.

“It has touched my soul many, many times,” Casey said, sharing a story about a young girl who heard she was going to get a Christmas stocking from her grandma. 

“The girl responded, ‘I don’t have a grandma.’ Then someone said, ‘You have 70 grandmas!’”