99-year-old woman sews dozens of dresses for orphans in Puerto Rico

A person making clothes.
(Image credit: iStock)

Martha Heft lives in Clearwater, Florida, but her handmade dresses, blankets, and quilts are keeping orphans warm in Puerto Rico and Haiti.

Heft, 99, first learned how to sew when she was just five years old. After seeing the destruction that Hurricane Maria caused in Puerto Rico, Heft and some other members of her church got to work, creating 60 dresses for the Regraso de Paz orphanage in Aguadilla. Attached to the dresses, which were delivered by Heft's granddaughter and grandson-in-law, were notes with inspiring messages, including, "Smile because we love you."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.