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AWARD: Sewing volunteer helps troops, wins award

  • Published
  • By Michelle Gigante
  • Air Force Materiel Command Public Affairs
The spouse of a lieutenant colonel working at Headquarters Development and Fielding Systems Group here won an award for her volunteer efforts in helping injured troops returning from combat overseas.

Ginger Dosedel, founder of the charitable organization "Sew Much Comfort," won the Chief of Staff of the Air Force Volunteer Excellence Award Feb. 15. She was recognized because of her efforts to provide adaptive clothing to injured military members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Mrs. Dosedel had been making regular visits to Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Wash D.C., for her son Mike, a childhood cancer survivor. "He had to wear an external fixator (a device used to lengthen his leg), and a normal pair of pants just wouldn't fit over it," said Mrs. Dosedel. He persistently asked for pants that would accommodate his fixator, she said. "I'm not a very good sewer but I learned to sew for him."

Mrs. Dosedel began hand making all of her son's pants and undergarments during his treatment, making one pant leg several inches larger in diameter than the other and adding a strip of Velcro down the side so the pant leg could open to accommodate his fixator. This allowed him to wear pants that looked as normal as possible instead of having to wear the hospital gowns. This helped increase his self-esteem and self-sufficiency, Mrs. Dosedel said.

Because Mrs. Dosedel and her son saw that many troops had similar clothing needs as Mike, they brought several adaptive-clothing items to the medical center in December 2004. The patients were thrilled and when a young soldier cried, because after 9 months she could finally have underwear again and clothing that fit over her fixator, Sew Much Comfort was borne.

Mrs. Dosedel contacted two friends and explained how she wanted to make adaptive clothing for severely injured troops. They agreed to help her create an organization to support this project. "It's truly a labor of love. I couldn't have done it alone."

Sew Much Comfort has grown to a volunteer force of more than 500 seamstresses since it began in December 2004. Since that time, the organization has provided more than 2,000 articles of clothing, free of charge, valued at more than $50,000, according to Mrs. Dosedel.

With the creative ingenuity and skill of volunteers, the organization now creates adaptive clothing to accommodate almost any injury or medical device. "It's a great project and we love doing it. It is an honor to serve our nation's heroes," said Mrs. Dosedel. "I am humbled and honored to have this award given to me, but it really doesn't belong to one person. I couldn't have accomplished this without my partners, the regional directors, the ambassadors, the army of seamstresses and the generous donations of the American public. I didn't earn this award, America did."