Maxine Fleming, a volunteer with Zion United Church of Christ, used fabrics to sew pet toys and donate them to local animal shelters. (Staff photo by Mary Rupert)

   Maxine Fleming has made hundreds of coats for children, donating them in past years to Project Warmth.
   For the past seven or eight years, she made about 200 coats for needy children. This year, the volunteer at Zion United Church of Christ, 2711 N. 72nd, is taking a break from making coats and quilts, and instead making dog toys out of scrap material. 
   The latest project came about because some scrap fabric donated to the church was more suitable for pet toys, Fleming said.
   “I’ve made a good 400 of them so far,” Fleming said recently. “They take about five minutes to make.”
   One recent day, she sewed 100 of the pet toys in nine hours.
   The little pet toys have been donated to Pet Connection, the Greater Kansas City Humane Society, and Wayside Waifs, she said.
   Fleming adopted a dog from Animal Haven last year, and the dog likes to play with soft toys. That inspired her to make some pet toys of all sizes and shapes. After she sews the toy, she stuffs it with old leftover scraps of material.
   The church includes groups that meet regularly to work on quilts, and the quilts are donated to charity. But some of the material donated to the church is not suitable for quilts.
   Fleming has a marketing degree from Philadelphia University, Philadelphia, Pa. She is a Kansas City, Kansas, resident and a member of Zion United Church of Christ.
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