Volunteers with Sew Special Network worked on a project last week. From left are Cindy Lutton, Margo Anderson, Marsha Frantisak, Phyllis Stevenson, Sue Sherman and Kimberly Beaman. Photo provided by Marsha Frantisak.
By Phoebe Muthart
InkFreeNews
KOSCIUSKO COUNTY — What started in Ohio, Marsha Frantisak has continued in Indiana. She started a hand-crafting group in 1998 in a small town about the size of Leesburg. It was a community effort with church groups, Scouts and many volunteers, both men and women, to get it going. The group was incorporated in 2005 and became known as Sew Special Network.
When she moved to Indiana in 2013, Frantisak started working with the senior center in North Webster. One project she recalled was making large plastic mats out of shopping bags. The mats were sent to a homeless shelter in Fort Wayne.
“That took 700 plastic bags for each mat and lots of help from volunteers to gather bags, cut them up connect the loops, ball the strands of plastic up and crochet them. We were all glad when that project was completed,” she said.
In 2020, the group made 4,000 masks during COVID for United Way; the organization grew from there.
Sew Special Network of Northern Indiana is comprised of volunteers who donate their time.
Incorporated as a nonprofit in early 2019, SSNNI has since grown into a network of many individuals who give of their time and talents to help make items for various charities and service agencies while having fun in the process.
SSNNI’s motto is, “Do all the good you can, in all ways you can, for all people you can, at all times you can, as long as ever you can.”
The organization provides handmade items to hospitals, hospice or cancer agencies and children’s centers. It also makes items for nursing homes, homeless shelters and civic groups. Each year, SSNNI donates several thousand dollars worth of handmade items to these groups to help them help clients.
SSNNI maintains a workshop in Leesburg, where volunteers can work on projects or pick up supplies to complete at their homes.
Those interested in sewing, knitting, crocheting and other handcrafts are always welcome. All materials for projects are provided to volunteers. There are no regular meetings and one doesn’t need to be crafty to be a network volunteer, as there are a variety of ways someone can help.
One of those volunteers is Margo Anderson of Warsaw. She’s been helping since 2020. Some of her handmade creations have gone to Haiti. She makes blankets, walker totes and is most known for her quilts.
Sue Sherman of Leesburg is known for the prayer blankets she makes for Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Warsaw. Sue isn’t a sewer, but she’s extremely helpful in so many other areas.
The amount of time a person gives is up to the individual.
“All one needs is a desire to help,” she said. “We use our talents to give back to the community.”
Sew Special is an innovative volunteer organization where people gather to learn, exchange ideas and help others in the community.
The volunteer organization is also a great recycler. Donations of unused supplies (i.e. fabric) are always welcome, and help keep the cost of operations down. Financial assistance has also helped with purchasing items, which seldom get donated.
A craft/garage sale will be in May and a second meet and greet is in early summer at the North Webster Community Library.
“It’s an opportunity for our many volunteers to actually meet each other and also for the public to see many of the items we make,” said Frantisak.
It has been asked to make specific items for Joe’s Kids, Parkview Cancer Center and hospice center, and Woman of Today for their charitable works.
Sew Special Network is a nonprofit organization and all donations are tax deductible.
New volunteers are always welcome; no dues, no meetings, no specific skills required, just a desire to help others.
Workshop hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday by appointment.
For more information, to volunteer or to donate materials, call (574) 453-2185 or email ssnainfo23@gmail.com.