NATCHEZ — For many children’s aching coughs in Jackson, there are many hands reaching out from Natchez to soothe the pain.

Tuesday morning, a few of those hands were cutting, pressing, stuffing and sewing pieces of colorful cloth into pillows for young surgery patients to hug as a way to lessen the pain from coughing, sneezing and other sudden movements.

Adams County members of the Mississippi Homemaker Volunteers were busy making 10 cough pillows to send to Blair E. Batson Children’s Hospital.

The pillows are just one of the many projects the group makes each year. The men and women homemakers also make tote bags to hang on the back of wheelchairs, blankets and throws for nursing home patients, pillowcases for hospital patients and dresses, hats and slippers to send to Haiti, Nicaragua and Honduras.

“We put our talents together and make it work,” volunteer Ernestine Stanton said Tuesday.

Working together is one of the reasons many of the volunteers say they participate.

“I can help more people by being a part of the group than I can by myself,” Stanton said.

“It gives you a wider reach when you are working as a group,” fellow member Bonita Reed said.

Working together, the group recently helped finish 161 dresses to send to young girls in poverty-stricken areas of the world. Even though each dress was made from the same simple pattern, volunteers sewed individual patterns and design to make each dress unique.

“It is good to know that we are helping those who are less fortunate,” Lillian Edney said. “Whenever you lift someone up, it helps you.”

The group is part of the Mississippi Extension Service and meets regularly at the Adams County Office on Carthage Road.

Since 1936, Adams County homemakers have been reaching out to help others.

“We started out as a tomato club and then just branched out,” Edney said.

“As times changed, the needs changed,” Reed said.

Most of the projects these days are sewing projects, but that doesn’t mean that members have to know how to sew.

“Everybody doesn’t sew,” Edney said. “We also have to have those who press, cut and other things.”

Stanton was busy ironing pieces of cloth for others to sew into cough pillows at the row of sewing machines in the meeting room.

“All of our cloth is donated,” Stanton said. “People just bring the material to us.”

Because most of the items are shipped many miles from Natchez, the volunteers rarely see the impact they have on other people’s lives. A recent trip to Jackson’s Ronald McDonald House was one of those rare instances.

“When they see you coming, they are elated to know that someone has brought something especially for them,” Edney said. “Just to see the smile on their faces, you know you are making a difference.”

The group always welcomes anyone who is interested in becoming a member. For more information call 601-445-8201.