Maryann is the owner of Interthread Embroidery and is a long-time volunteer for General Needs. Her role at General Needs is pretty simple: pack and unpack clothes at distribution and storage sites. However, her impact on the lives of homeless veterans is immense. When she moved to Huntington years ago, she made a promise to herself that she would volunteer somewhere within her community. She has been with several other charities, but something about Lonnie and Susan’s organization stood out to her, and so she picked General Needs. Maryann happens to have two daughters who are in the Marines, so General Needs hits very close to her heart. “To think that these men and women go and serve our country and then come back with nothing is something I do not think is right. What Lonnie and Sue do is incredible. Giving our vets everything brand new is incredible.”
Her favorite memory with General Needs comes from when she was handing out boots to some veterans at the V.A. This one particular veteran was explaining to Maryann about how he had lost everything in his life. “When I handed him a brand new pair of boots that were his size, the vet was so grateful. I could feel the power of what that meant to him.”