Why This 15-Year-Old Girl Sews Will Bring Tears to Your Eyes

Story originally published by Fox 9

While many young teenangers spend their days dealing with the struggles of high school, 15-year-old Lexi Fresh pushed teen angst aside by aspiring to make her mark on the world.

The Minnesota high school student was bothered by images floating around the web, but one sight troubled her the most: young Kenyan and Haitian girls living in nearly non-survivable conditions. That's when an idea sparked that would soon inspire everyone Lexi came in contact with. And so was born Dress for a Change.

Dress for a Change launched with a goal to sew 1,000 dresses for girls in Kenya and Haiti. With each dress, she sent a letter in hopes that it will inspire those on the receiving end to get involved with their own form of Girl Scouts.

"I'm a 15-year-old Girl Scout from Minnesota, USA," Fox 9 reported the letter read. "You are receiving this dress because I care about you and hope to inspire you about Girl Scouts. The badge sewn to your dress is an actual badge I earned back in the U.S. I really hope for you to join because you can make your life better and also make the world a better place."

Since the start, Lexi has gained a load of attention for her empowering project: nearly 100 volunteers and more than $7,000 to be exact. She spent brutal winters and scorching summers selling four thousand boxes of cookies, participating in various fundraisers, and sewing dresses as she could before she finally raised the money she needed to ship the dresses to the girls in Kenya and Haiti. The long, tiring work was well worth it when she received a letter in return.

"Dear Lexi, we are the Light of Hope Girl Scouts from Navasha, Kenya and we were so excited listening from you," the letter started. "Thank you for the beautiful dresses you sewed for us. We loved them. You have inspired us in a positive way. We feel that you are a part of us."

Lexi ended up exceeding her goal by 72 dresses, making her total donation 1,072 dresses to girls in need. Being the humble teen that she is, Lexi still can't grasp everything that she's done.

"I don't know why people helped me out so much," Lexi said. "I was just a 15-year-old making these dresses and I thought people are just not going to be interested in it, but they were. And, they wanted to help out."

If you would like to help, visit dressforachange.com.