The Missouri River Quilt Guild is making Christmas stockings for local food pantries to use for their Christmas fundraising efforts.
The group is accepting stocking donations in Jefferson City at Three Story Coffee, 122 E. Dunklin St.
It hosted free stocking-making demonstrations Saturday at the Coca-Cola Bottling Company.
C.J. Cornelius, a member of the Guild who is also part of the stocking project, said this year is the fourth year for the project and the group generally donates nearly 75 stockings to each local food pantry - The Food Bank for Central and Northeast Missouri; Serve Inc.; and the Samaritan Center.
In the past, The Food Bank has used the stockings as incentives for those who donate through the agency's Radioathon; Serve Inc., has used the stockings to package items for clients; and the Samaritan Center has had an anonymous donor make a donation for the stockings and then donate them back to the agency for its clients.
"It's a neat way for people to be able to do something, not with money, but with their skills," Cornelius said of making the stockings.
She said every one of them is unique.
"One of our members gets fabric samples from furniture stores," Cornelius said. "There are also quilted ones.
"The group has learned how to upcycle stuff that would normally be thrown away."
Cornelius said the Christmas stocking project is not the Guild's only project. The Guild has also sewn quilts for foster children, Habitat for Humanity families and veterans.