All you have to do is buy a $5 grocery tote, handmade by a Brainerd area sewing group. Every penny of the $5 will go to the Wadena tornado relief fund. In return you'll not only get the hand-sewn grocery tote, but a $5 grocery coupon as well, donated by Schaefer's.

This is a sampling of the hand-sewn grocery totes that will be sold Friday, Sept. 3, at Schaefer's Foods in Nisswa, with proceeds going to the Wadena tornado relief fund. Those who buy a tote will receive a $5 coupon for groceries at Schaefer's.

Members of the Brainerd Lakes Neighborhood Group, a local division of the American Sewing Guild that includes sewers from the northern lakes area, made 400 colorful grocery totes that they'll begin selling at 9 a.m. Friday, Sept. 3, at Schaefer's.

Kris Rossina, president of the Brainerd Lakes Neighborhood Group, said at least 25 groups, organizations and clubs donated to the grocery tote project.

They met to cut all the material one day, and last Thursday, Aug. 26, they met at a Brainerd church where they formed three assembly lines and sewed the bags.

"They're really nice bags. They're very durable," Rossina said. "Some are plain. Some are fancy."

Rossina said when the sewing guild met in June to decide on a project, Brenda Peterson, of Country Fabrics in Brainerd, suggested the idea of a sew-in to benefit tornado victims.

Various sewing clubs that meet at Country Fabrics started donating fabric and giving money, and the idea took off.

Rossina said they plan to sell the totes at Schaefer's until they're all sold.