Who We Are
Needlepushers is an organization of international ladies that knit, crochet and sew clothes for poor Mexican children living in the Lake Chapala area.
Originated in 1962 by Neill James in honor of her mother, an avid knitter, Needlepushers have been knitting, crocheting and sewing for needy children in the lakeside area for over half a century. The products of these hardworking volunteers are distributed throughout lakeside communities and in the surrounding mountain villages. The work and the results are amazing!
Please join us.
The group meets every Tuesday, 10am – 12pm in the property behind Lake Chapala Society, for contact information email Jean Melnyk at jeanmelnyk@hotmail.com.
Check out our entry on the Activities By Group page.
How We Do It
We meet together to knit, crochet and sew to make the lives of needy children better. We also work in conjunction with other charities such as “Mi Bebé y Yo” and the Prison Doll Ministry.
We get our supplies of yarn, fabric and accessories from donations of either items we need, items we can sell for money to buy and from cash donations. We have ample supplies of the fabric, yarn, patterns, needles, buttons and accessories you may need to make your garment.
Anyone can be a member. You don’t even need to know how to knit, crochet or sew. Some of our helpers sew hems or sew on buttons to the garments.
Many of our members would be more than willing to teach you what you want to learn, or you can just be there to socialize during meetings and help with distributions. Most of our supplies are stored in our bodega on the Lake Chapala Society property, including sewing machines to lend out to sewers.
Our annual membership is 200 pesos for full time people and 100 pesos for 6 month or less residents. And, of course, all the volunteer time you wish to donate.
Clothing Distribution
We have held distributions from as far East as Mezcala to North in Cedros and West around the end of the lake at Villa Infantile Guadalupe y San Jose A.C. We target pre-schools and kindergartens.
Sweaters
Sweater distribution begins in early November and continues through the middle of December. Our goal is to get warm sweaters to lakeside children before the weather gets unbearably cold for them. Sweater distributions begin in November. The photos below are from our 2021 distributions in Mezcala and San Pedro Itzicán.
Dresses & Vests
Dress and vest distributions begin in February and continue through early March. Our goal is to get as many needy children in new Spring dresses and vests in time for the Easter season.
Our vest distribution began in 2012 with a vest for Chuy (an orphan at La Ola Casa Hogar orphanage in Jocotepec). He was our inspiration to begin making vests for the boys in the Spring. In 2015 we distributed more than 130 vests to some very proud little boys.
In 2017 we had 8 distributions, approximately 210 sweaters, 226 dresses to the girls and 170 vests to the boys.
Our Work In Photos
