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MAY 2018
Sewn with love By Bridgett Hernandez
A helping hand
bhernandez@kpcmedia.com
Last year, Hatch applied for a grant from the Fort Wayne branch of the American Association of University Women to help fund the annual project. She had never applied for a grant before but she thought she’d give it a shot. Hatch didn’t get the grant because it wasn’t a local project, but the board of trustees still wanted to support her project, said board member Martha Weatherford. “We liked the idea for her project, but she didn’t fit the guidelines, so we just decided we would support her at our spring brunch in May,”
A package containing 126 colorful dresses is making a 10,000-mile journey – from a sewing room in Fort Wayne to an orphanage in Uganda. Over the course of a year, Martha Hatch, a retiree living in Fort Wayne, has spent hours sewing dresses for little girls who she might never meet. She first learned of the orphanage’s need for clothing about five years ago. Since then, she has been volunteering her time, talent and own money to the charitable cause.
she said. Members gathered fabric from their stashes at home and bought fabric and ribbon to help. The group donated six shopping bags of fabric and sewing supplies and $141 to Hatch for her project. The dresses are simple – a cotton shift with an adjustable drawstring ribbon neckline – and colorful with bright patterns ranging from flowers to flamingos. Now the dresses are ready to make the long journey from Hatch’s sewing room in Fort Wayne to missionaries in Texas who will travel with the dresses to the orphanage in Uganda. A common thread
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HOMESTEAD HANDBELL CHOIR PREMIERES
PHOTO BY GARTH SNOW
Ruthie Metcalfe, from left, Bridget Quehl and Andrea Ponce perform with the Spartan Belles at an April 17 concert at Homestead High School. The spring concert marked the premier of the 17-member handbell choir, the first high school-associated handbell choir in Fort Wayne. Other members are Sophie Braun, Sierrah Clifford, Faith Fleischman, Emma Gillam, Peyton Green, Caitlyn Klinepeter-Persing, Kayli Maucione, Chloe Morton, Madison Murray, Evie Quehl, Josie Santiago, Emily Van Veld, Nola Win and Ashley Yoakum. Shannon Hardiek directs the Spartan Belles. The Homestead Symphony Orchestra also performed at the first of several Homestead community nights; Bryen Warfield conducted.
Weatherford described Hatch as a “sewing dynamo” with a servant’s heart. “I think her whole life has been one of service,”
PHOTO BY BRIDGETT HERNANDEZ
Martha Hatch, of Fort Wayne, sewed 126 dresses for girls at an orphanage in Uganda. This year, members of the Fort Wayne branch of American Association of University Women donated fabric and money to support Hatch’s annual project.
she said. Hatch retired from a career in human resources at Dana Incorporated. These days, she’s more active than ever between her gig as a substitute teacher, helping out at
her church, St. John Missionary Baptist, spending time with her family and admittedly more hobbies than she has enough time for. She also quietly See SEWN, Page 4
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