Faulkner Lifestyle April 2019~Anniversary Edition

community
BY JENNIE STRANGE
PHOTOS BY BRANDY STRAIN-DAYER
I
wasn’t entirely sure what to expect
when I walked through the door, but
this was not it. I had imagined a few
women gathered around folding tables
engaged in friendly chit chat, their hands
occupied, some quiet music in the
background perhaps.
Instead, I can hear the fervor of their
activity before the door even swings
open. And first up behind that door is
Linda Fullerton, the leader of this pack
of committed workers. Her energy and
passion for the group is evident from the
first word she speaks.
“Come on in! It’s a bit loud, but you get
used to it,” Linda smiles. “We have 20
or so ladies here today, but sometimes
we have 30 or more.” Peeking through
the window to the fellowship hall of
Four Winds Church, I can see women
working at different stations around the
room. Some are polishing bits of broken
china, others are bent over loud equipment,
grinding the edges of the pieces,
some are packaging finished necklaces.
Breanne McClendon, new executive
director of Conway Women’s Shelter
Beauty from
Broken Things
The Volunteer-led Broken China Project Lends
Support to the Conway Women‘s Shelter
The group gathered here is made up
entirely of volunteers — mostly retired,
with their average age around 70 — and
they come together weekly, 50 weeks
out of the year, to create jewelry from
broken plates. They then sell the
jewelry at craft shows, conferences and
boutiques, mostly around Arkansas but
sometimes outside of the state.
The Broken China Project was started
about twelve years ago as an idea
from a board member at the Conway
Women’s Shelter. “She wanted it to do
a fundraising project – at the time they
were just trying to make enough money
so that the ladies at the shelter could get
together and do something fun one night
a week,” Linda explains.
Linda, a retired school counselor who
had just gone through training as a
16 faulkner lifestyle | april 2O19