Editor's Note: This series recognizes people who make a difference in their communities. To nominate someone, call Wendy Victora at 315-4478 or email wvictora@nwfdailynews.com.
Mary Hill got her first sewing machine when she was 12 and has been making clothes and blankets ever since.
Everything she makes, she gives away.
“People I know, people I don’t know,” says the Fort Walton Beach woman. “It doesn’t matter. I like to do for everybody and the Lord gives me the opportunity all the time.”
In addition to sewing for others, Hill collects used clothing, which she distributes out of her garage to anyone who needs it.
She retired after 25 years with the phone company, but at age 71 finds herself just as busy now as when she worked full-time.
She helps to clean her church, sings with the choir and, one memorable holiday season, played Santa Claus at a Christmas party for Horizons. Since then, she has found a “fluffier friend” to play the big man in red and Hill dresses up as Mrs. Claus.
“We want to help other people’s lives, make them happy,” she says of her and her husband. “That’s all we like to do.”
Hill doesn’t really want to be featured in the newspaper for her good works.
“I don’t like too much fussing over me,” she says.
But her friend, Patsy Swafford, insisted Hill be recognized.
“You know, in your life, you’re lucky to run across one or two really good people,” Swafford says. “That’s Mary.”
Also Nominated: Lauren Lindley and Dawn Campbell, who have volunteered in the Fort Walton Beach High School attendance office for years.
Daily News Staff Writer Wendy Victora can be reached at 850-315-4478 or wvictora@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @WendyVnwfdn.
