Bree123

Actually, that's a good point. I misread & thought it was for Senior High (9-12). A 17 or 18 year old can get a job or do odd jobs around the neighborhood. And then hunt around for a good deal on a machine. They could put an ad in the church bulletin or ask in the church office if someone has a machine they could buy that doesn't need servicing; or if they want to buy a new Brother machine at Wal-Mart, they could do that. 15-20 hours of work should cover the cost so unless these teens are helping cover the cost of their parents' bills or are expected to care for siblings when not in school, it should be do-able.

That said, I understand that the church might just really want this to be a ministry to the kids & not want to ask that of them. If possible, I think it would be best if students who need a machine appeal to the church for donations so the machine is theirs (and then there's no need for you to store or service it); I agree with the poster that said it's important that the families have some money invested in the machine -- even $10-20 -- so they don't look at it as a disposable item (that money can go to a Service & Repair Fund for the ministry). I also think it would be nice if the recipients sent little progress reports to their donor about their quilt. That will help encourage people to donate in future years & to spread the word about the program. Students who fall in love with sewing/quilting could keep their machine at the end of class. Students who don't could donate the machine back to the ministry for next year's students (who would follow the same process by contributing to the Service & Repair Fund and writing to the graduated Senior who donated back to the program). Back when I didn't as sew much, I could go 2 years between servicing on my mostly metal Singer Genie. When asking people for donations, be sure to also ask for money for servicing the machines you keep. A great time to do that is at the end of the class by having the students share their projects with the church/donors & talk about what the class meant to them; and, of course, you can ask again when the next class is starting.

Good luck! It sounds like a really wonderful ministry! We had something like that which is mostly adults by us & they rotate the machines around between churches (who share the cost of the machines). Honestly, though, I don't recommend that because moving the machines from church to church is an ordeal. I get why they did it that way -- because that way the machines aren't sitting in closets unused for 9 months a year at each church, and because it is more cost effective to share the machines -- but it just seems like there had to be a better option than that. Still, I guess if it came down to it, finding one or more partners to buy & share the machines with might be an option.