Rachel O'Neill fell in love with the sweeping vistas of Malawi, Africa, but especially with the little girls, whose only clothing were the thread-bare dresses on their backs.

Her original idea was to get a church group to sew dresses for her to bring back for the children.

Eventually, word spread and dresses were sent from all fifty states, so many that it took teams of volunteers to sort them, and it became a symbol of friendship from women 8,000 miles away.

(WATCH the inspiring story below)