St. Anne’s Guild is sew beneficial

Since 2010, the Saint Anne’s Sewing Guild at Saint Eugene’s parish in Oklahoma City has made many kinds of items for people in need. Parishioner and Guild Chairman Barbara Main said the guild began because of a need for people to make and repair items for the church.

They started making tote bags and other items for the Oklahoma Department of Human Services, Birth Choice and Catholic Charities clients as well as nursing home residents. 

There are five members of the guild making a multitude of items for various groups in Oklahoma and abroad. Other members of the guild are Pat Maye, Barbara Koerner, Yvette Fleckinger and Betty Lucy.

“We love to sew and feel it is God’s plan to use our talents to help others,” Main said.

One of the items made by the guild is prayer shawls, which parishioners distribute when visiting nursing homes and hospitals. In 2012, a Sooner Catholic article about the prayer shawl project caught the attention of Fr. Adrian Vorderlandwehr, O.S.B. Fr. Adrian is chaplain at the Joseph Harp Correctional Facility in Lexington, and he encouraged the men there to find a way to give back to their communities. Inmate Blake Hart volunteered. He could crochet, and he started making shawls for the guild.
 

Once there was a good supply of shawls, they added other pieces. Main said Hart is very talented and can make anything as long as he has a picture. He makes about half of the items the guild gives away, including toys and animals for the parish mission trip to Bolivia.

He’s also making nativity sets this year, and Main says he comes up with a new project for every holiday. In addition to his own creations, Hart works with developmentally delayed inmates on different art projects. Those who don’t crochet, color pictures for Saint Ann Nursing Home residents.

A letter from Hart to Archbishop Coakley was the catalyst for this story. In his letter, Hart describes everything that Main does for the sewing guild. He expressed tremendous gratitude for her efforts and hoped to publicly thank and recognize Main for her many years of giving.

He mentioned that through this charity, Main provides inmates a way to give back to society, and that she sometimes spends her own money on supplies. 

Although they have never met, Main and Hart have a mutual appreciation for each other’s gifts and talents.

The guild sells craft items at the parish craft fair in October to raise money for the youth group, and to purchase more yarn. Visit Saint Eugene’s website at www.steugenesokc.org for more information.

Debi Myers Wagner is a freelance writer for the Sooner Catholic.