Sue Kohler and Mary Brinkman
NOMINEE
Nominated by
Elizabeth Gindt
January 24, 2020
I am inspired by Sue and Mary for their charitable work. These awesome sisters make recycled mittens. Each pair of mittens is sold with the intent of all the money going to charity. There are years that they have donated more than $30,000 to donate to non-profit organizations.That is an incredible amount of sales when you consider that two people are individually sewing each pair of mittens. Some of the areas they provide funding to include child care organizations, free meal programs, clothing pantries, human trafficking recovery programs and utility assistance. MItten making is a year round process. In addition to financial donations to organizations, they provide service projects to service groups and schools. The service projects allow students and community members to learn about the Happy Harmony Mitten Program as well as new skills of cutting mitten lining and sweaters for sewing. Each pair is custom made and sewn by Mary and Sue. They have recently been doing more "memory mittens". Families who have lost a loved one have brought sweaters to the ladies who craft them into pairs of mittens. The repurposed sweaters extend the memory of their loved one. This is a large undertaking by Mary and Sue and they love every moment of it. They are known as the mitten ladies and people seek them out not only for the mittens but because they know about their passion to help others. Wearing a pair of these mittens not only keeps your hands warm but also warms your heart. Knowing they they pour their heart and soul into each pair to help others is a win-win situation for everyone involved.