CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A non-profit group in Rockport is using its crafting skills and tons of patience to help the community.
"Less than a year and a half ago that I started beading, and I just can't put it down now,” said Katy Darby.
What started out as just a pasttime quickly turned into a guild for good causes.
“I think it was spurred by the hurricane and the devastation that we saw in our community and just kind of talking and saying ‘what can we do to give back’,” said Connie Bradley, president of Little Bay Beaders.
About 40 to 50 women come by The Bead Studio. They bead jewelry pieces together for hours and then the pieces get donated to help nonprofits around the Coastal Bend.
Bradley says in the last two years they've helped countless organizations, approximately raising $10,000 to date.
“Like the Lamar Fire Department, or the Humane Society,” said Bradley. “People that are having galas and silent auctions and then they sell these pieces to support their organizations.
“Everybody in Rockport knows that our 'blue crab' got destroyed in the hurricane and so we’re trying to help support the community efforts to replace the crab. So we made crab bracelets and wine cork necklaces that we sold at the local winery to support that project.”
Several of the women in the organization are retired, they're just looking to make a big impact using small beads.
“I don’t have to volunteer with 10 organizations, I can volunteer here and maybe impact 10 other organizations,” said Darby.