Project Joanna
Getting Your Project Started
Dear Friends in Christ,
God bless you for deciding to become part of “Project Joanna”. We hope the following list of instructions, patterns, and buying guides will aid you in making this program a “light that shines” in your community, so that many may “see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven”. (Matthew 5:16)
Determining the Need
Find the Treatment Centers
Unfortunately, cancer is a tragic disease in every part of the country. You will have to find where it is being treated in your community. A call to your local American Cancer Society (check the yellow pages) will tell you which hospitals in your city are the cancer treatment centers. You can then call the oncology department of those hospitals and speak to the nurses working there.
What to say
Explain to the nurse that your church group would like to provide turbans free of charge. Ask how many they would need each month and when they would like them delivered. Get the name of the nurse you spoke with so you can ask for her when making your first delivery.
Your group should get properly organized to manage the work. Tasks can be distributed among the volunteers, or each person may create their own turban packages, based on agreements made by the group.
Gathering Workers
The Pastor should be involved.
The project group should meet with the Evangelism Committee and Pastor to work on the letter or postcard that will be sent along with each turban. Will you offer a free Bible on request? Would your Pastor be available to call or visit if requested? These questions should be settled before going further. The support of your Pastor and congregation is vital to the success of your project. Line up people to sew and most importantly, people to pray!
Gearing Up for Production
What to order
These items must be ordered before the first turban can be made:
- The labels that are stitched into the turbans take 4-5 weeks to come in, so order these first. We order ours from "NAME MAKER" 150 at a time. The cost is $43.00. Our labels read "Made with love by Grace Lutheran Church". We use sew-on labels style F11 with a cross motif. Name Maker can be reached at 1-800-241-2890, has a webpage at namemaker.com, or by email at woven@namemaker.com
- The Lutheran Hour Ministries booklet "Coping with Cancer" is enclosed with every turban. Call 314-317-4100 and order item number 849 6BE05. We order 100 at a time at a cost of $44.00.
- Your church name and address should be on the back of every "Coping with Cancer" booklet. We found that stamp ink smeared so we order address labels from Current at a cost of around $10.50 for 500. Current has an on line form at their WEB Site, or you may call 877-755-7940, Mon-Fri 7am-10pm EST or email currentlabels@currentinc.com. Or you can produce your own labels on a computer printer.
- Every turban we deliver is attractively packed in pink tissue paper, put in a clear cellophane bag and tied with a pink ribbon. We order these from Nashville Wraps, 800-547-9729. We order the 9"x12" clear flat cello bags ($7.75 per hundred), a ream of the light pink economy tissue ($19.60). There is a $50 minimum order. We purchase pink ribbon locally when on sale at craft stores.
- We also enclose a computer-generated prayer and a postcard with each package.
Sewing
Here is the pattern for the turban. They are easy to make, one size fits all, and each can be made in fifteen minutes. Select fabric that has some stretch to it and is soft to the touch.
- Cut two strips of fabric. One 24"
x 14" and the other 2" by 4 1/2 "
<-----direction of stretch------> 24 inches
- Cut a 22" length of 1/4" elastic.
- Make a 1" hem on side of the 24" length of fabric. Stitch a 5/8" seam.
- Attach a safety pin to one end of the elastic and snake it through the seam.
- Fold 24" length in half, right side together and stitch, leaving 1" gap at the end. Use a pinking shears to cut away excess material. Turn inside out.
- Fold 4 1/2" strip right sides together and stitch a 5/8" seam. Turn inside out and press - OR - if your machine has zigzag, fold fabric in thirds wrong side together and zigzag down the middle.
- Hand or machine: stitch strip through gap in seam of cap.
Printable Version of Pattern
For a printable (Microsoft Word) copy of this pattern, right-click here and select "Save target" and save the Word file on your system.
We work at home and bring our completed turbans once a month to church to wrap them. Your church could sew together on certain days - whatever works for your group.
Delivery
Our packaged turbans our placed in large, paper, handle bags on which has been written “Project Joanna. Made with love by Grace Lutheran Church” and delivered to the hospitals. Have a church business card with the name and number of a contact person in your group written on it. Give it to one of the nurses and let them know you will be by next month (or whatever your group decided) but they can contact you if they need more before then. Don’t linger – they are VERY busy and we don’t want to give the impression that we will be proselytizing in their clinic.
| The ladies of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Chenango Bridge, display some completed turbans for Project Joanna.... |  |
...your group can work at home completely, or come together, as we do, to finish the packages. |
Our Prayer
With each turban we also enclose a card with this prayer:
Our Daily Prayer for You
Dear Lord Jesus, when You walked upon this earth
You healed the sick, gave sight to the blind, caused
the lame to walk, and raised the dead. Now we come
to You in behalf of those who are suffering today
from cancer and pray that You would send them
Your healing power.
Dearest Lord, You have suffered all things. You
know and understand their pain. We ask You to ease
their suffering, to quiet their fears, and to direct their
eyes to Your cross. Give them penitent hearts and,
by Your grace, forgive their sins. As they lie in their
beds of pain, help them look beyond the ceiling of
their room to Your throne in the heavens. Take their
hand in Yours so they may receive the peace which
You alone can give. Since the Holy Bible promises
that "in everything God works for good with those
who love him", teach them confidently to place
themselves into Your gracious care, saying "not my
will but Yours be done".
Hear my prayer, O Lord. Amen
NOTE: We are not endorsing or profiting from any of the companies mentioned here. These are simply where we have purchased our supplies.