By Michelle Edelbaum

Free Press Staff Writer

June 22, 2007 When Laura Cheney and Ali Marchildon learned that the first lady of the United States wanted their Flashbags, the women dropped everything and started sewing.

Wednesday morning, Laura Bush received one of the fledgling Burlington company's handbags from Jean Case of The Case Foundation. The bag was emblazoned with a brightly colored image of children in Africa playing on a PlayPump water system -- a merry-go-round that, when spun, provides clean drinking water.

"Mrs. Bush received the bag and thought it was a clever use of PlayPumps photos and a wonderful conversation piece," said Sally McDonough, press secretary for Laura Bush. Bush, a supporter of PlayPumps, is scheduled to visit a PlayPump installation in Zambia next week. "She thinks it's a great way to demonstrate a cause."

Bush was so thrilled with the bag that The Case Foundation -- an organization that invests in finding solutions to social problems and one of PlayPumps International's partners -- ordered as many bags as Flashbags could make to give to Bush. McDonough said Case also gave the first lady Flashbags' contact information should she choose to have a Flashbag made.

The Burlington business owners received The Case Foundation's order at noon Wednesday and worked feverishly to make at least 50 bags by 6 p.m. Thursday.

"This is one of those things that you think is never going to happen to you," said Marchildon, 37, hunched over a sewing machine and a bag-in-the-making in the company's Lawson Lane studio Thursday. "It's happening to us this minute."

It takes an hour to make one bag, a process that involves printing an image from the computer, making color copies, laminating the image, lining the bag panels with newspaper and sewing the bag together.

Cheney and Marchildon have just two sewing machines in their small studio, and an intern and an assistant to cut the images, punch grommets and attach shoulder straps. Fortunately for the entrepreneurs, they already had some materials printed and laminated. Cheney, 31, said The Case Foundation has been very respectful of their process, although Marchildon thinks "they don't really know how little we are."

"We were attracted to Flashbags for a couple of reasons," Murphy said. "Their tagline 'carry a conversation' is very true. Any time that the staff have their Flashbags with them we always have people asking about the image, and the bag gives us an opportunity to tell people about PlayPumps. Second, Flashbags is a women-owned business and entrepreneurial. Women and children are most burdened by the lack of access to clean drinking water -- they're the ones gathering water for their families. So we think partnering with other women to change the lives of women and girls around the world is a good thing to do."

Cheney and Marchildon are grateful their bags are helping to further an important issue. The two are so moved by PlayPumps' mission that they worked with teachers and students at Champlain Elementary School in Burlington's South End and with Underhill Elementary School to create water-themed collage bags; one of each will be included with the order. The bags also will be accompanied by a special note to the first lady hand-written by Marchildon's son Oliver, 8, thanking Laura Bush for her help in bringing clean drinking water to children in Africa.

Before The Case Foundation's request, Flashbags had sold 127 PlayPumps handbags through its partnership with the nonprofit collaborative. During PlayPumps' "100 Pumps in 100 Days" campaign ending June 29, Flashbags is donating 20 percent of the proceeds from sale of the bags to the organization to support its mission of donating and installing PlayPump water systems in rural African communities and schools.

The first lady is a champion of PlayPumps, having announced in September 2006 a $16.4 million investment over three years by the U.S. Agency for International Development, U.S. Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator, The Case Foundation and The MCJ Foundation to expand the installation of PlayPump water system.

She's also very fashionable, Murphy noted.

"I can't wait to see what outfit she wears with it," Murphy said.

Contact Michelle Edelbaum at 660-1885 or medelbaum@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com.