Speaker 1: Good morning, good morning, good morning. Welcome, welcome, welcome.
Speaker 2: It is time now for our community connection and it's
Speaker 2: being brought to you by Wesley and Kitty College and
Speaker 2: Tall Grass Motors and it is our pleasure to have
Speaker 2: Miss Laura Walton in studio today with Martha's Task. First
Speaker 2: of all, good Friday to you. It is a beautiful
Speaker 2: day to have you in here.
Speaker 3: Good Friday to you too. I'm very grateful to be
Speaker 3: here and looking forward to a long Memorial Day weekend.
Speaker 3: But first we're going to talk about Martha's Tasks.
Speaker 2: You better believe it, because we've got a big birthday
Speaker 2: party coming up.
Speaker 3: We do. We are so excited. Tom. We are going
Speaker 3: to have a lou Ou theme party.
Speaker 1: I like it.
Speaker 3: Yeah. So it's going to be June twelfth, ten am
Speaker 3: to six pm at Martha's Task, which is seven eighteen
Speaker 3: South Johnstone Own. Everyone is welcome to come and we
Speaker 3: are going to have mocktails and tropical type food and
Speaker 3: we've got a lot of really cool tropical merchandise that
Speaker 3: our seamstresses have been working on. It's so much fun.
Speaker 1: Now, how much to cost you get into this? Soare?
Speaker 3: It is absolutely free? You gotta be kidding. No, you
Speaker 3: just come on in. We're just really happy to be
Speaker 3: able to celebrate twenty five years and we want everyone
Speaker 3: to come join us a luel.
Speaker 2: You've got handmade items made right here in Bartlesville by
Speaker 2: local folks, and you're going to have mock tails and
Speaker 2: a whole kinds of fun with a Luau theme.
Speaker 1: And who could say no?
Speaker 3: Right right, It's just what you want to do to
Speaker 3: help kick off your summer. It's going to be a
Speaker 3: lot of fed and a good cause.
Speaker 2: It's a great cause. Tell us a little bit about
Speaker 2: Martha's Task. What is the task of Martha's Task?
Speaker 3: Okay, so Martha's Task is an organization that works with
Speaker 3: low income women. So we provide job training, both sewing
Speaker 3: training and crafting programs to help women earn an income
Speaker 3: and skills so that they can continue to earn an
Speaker 3: income into the future.
Speaker 2: This is great, and you've got quite a number of successes.
Speaker 2: We're not going to go into the numbers here today,
Speaker 2: but I can tell you that there are folks who
Speaker 2: really get turned around. And not only I can do attitude,
Speaker 2: but it's watched me succeed attitude.
Speaker 3: It is I mean, I can't tell you how many
Speaker 3: times somebody comes in and they're coming for the first
Speaker 3: time and they're down. They are coming from a bad situation,
Speaker 3: maybe domestic violence, maybe homeless. Things are not good for
Speaker 3: them at the time. But when they come in and
Speaker 3: they start working on projects and they're focusing their mind
Speaker 3: on choosing color patterns and putting things together, they forget
Speaker 3: their problems for a while. So not only are they
Speaker 3: learning a skill, but they're also getting some art therapy
Speaker 3: at the same time. And it's really wonderful to see.
Speaker 2: You know, sometimes when you feel beaten down like that,
Speaker 2: you feel the heaviness of the world. Just actually having
Speaker 2: some kind of control over a project empowers.
Speaker 1: You in so many ways.
Speaker 2: And I can see where that art therapy really pays
Speaker 2: big dividends.
Speaker 3: It does, it does. It is something I really wasn't
Speaker 3: expecting when I first came into this job. I didn't
Speaker 3: think about that aspect of it until I saw it
Speaker 3: in person. And it is a beautiful thing.
Speaker 1: And so but surely they start taking back control of
Speaker 1: their life and everything else, and it just kind of
Speaker 1: grows from there like a neat little flower.
Speaker 3: It does. And we know when we see someone make
Speaker 3: enough money to be able to get off the street,
Speaker 3: to pay for an apartment deposit, to get a car,
Speaker 3: you know, to be able to pay for a car,
Speaker 3: those are huge victories for us. We are just very
Speaker 3: very excited when that happens.
Speaker 1: Miracles kind of happen every day there.
Speaker 3: Huh, Yes, they do.
Speaker 2: Twenty five years of miracles right here in Bartlesville. Martha's Task,
Speaker 2: it's the big luau coming up and you can come
Speaker 2: in and have some fun, buy some merchandise, visit with people,
Speaker 2: learn a little bit more about Martha's Task, and you know,
Speaker 2: this is a great way to celebrate. It's also a
Speaker 2: great way to become familiar with your program.
Speaker 3: Absolutely absolutely, and we want to celebrate all that we
Speaker 3: have been through the years and all the support that
Speaker 3: we've gotten from the community to help us get there.
Speaker 3: We started in the year two thousand in Saint James
Speaker 3: Catholic Church actually really yeahs side of town, and it
Speaker 3: was an outreach mission for the church. There was a
Speaker 3: woman named Susan Murphy and she kept running along people
Speaker 3: who were in poverty that needed a way out, and
Speaker 3: so she was trying to think of what to do
Speaker 3: to help them, and then along comes Lois and John Morgan,
Speaker 3: who donated a bunch of sewing machines to the church,
Speaker 3: and so Susan said, well, I don't sew, but somebody
Speaker 3: else can, and so came in and helped teach women
Speaker 3: to sew, and voila, a mission was born, and then
Speaker 3: we became an independent nonprofit that incorporated June twelfth, two thousand.
Speaker 1: My goodness sakes that fast. Huh.
Speaker 2: Yes, you see, good things do happen, and sometimes they
Speaker 2: can happen in a hurry, and that kind of did.
Speaker 2: But now twenty five years later, you look back on
Speaker 2: that and there's a lot of success. Stori's a lot
Speaker 2: of things to be proud of.
Speaker 3: There are. It's really it's been very rewarding to see
Speaker 3: how people have grown and just learned new things and
Speaker 3: turned their lives around. Not everybody who comes through our
Speaker 3: door is going to be a permanent seamstress.
Speaker 1: No, No.
Speaker 3: A lot of times people are coming in and because
Speaker 3: of the trauma they've been through or because of generational poverty,
Speaker 3: they're learning how to follow a schedule, they're learning how
Speaker 3: to have a job and a work ethic, and so
Speaker 3: it's really wonderful to see someone start from ground zero
Speaker 3: and learn all those things and look forward to coming
Speaker 3: into class and being proud of what they're doing. And
Speaker 3: it's just fabulous.
Speaker 2: In the aha moment, you know when you see the
Speaker 2: lights come on in their eyes like wow.
Speaker 1: I can do this.
Speaker 3: Yes.
Speaker 1: That just got to make your hearts well.
Speaker 3: Yes. And to see people develop self confidence and independence
Speaker 3: and be able to help support themselves and their families,
Speaker 3: that's all huge. And have hope, hope is huge, you know,
Speaker 3: giving some money.
Speaker 2: Thing, this is great, And let's celebrate twenty five years
Speaker 2: and let's make sure that we don't have to really hope.
Speaker 2: We can just ensure that you'll be around for another
Speaker 2: twenty five years to help out the community and the
Speaker 2: people you serve.
Speaker 3: Absolutely and you know you can help with that through
Speaker 3: our twenty five thousand for twenty five years fundraising campaign.
Speaker 3: How does this work? Well, we are you know, we're
Speaker 3: taking cash donations for that and you can give through
Speaker 3: our face page or through pay pal. You can mail
Speaker 3: things to our office at seven eighteen South Johnstone. You
Speaker 3: can call me on the phone at nine one eight
Speaker 3: three three six eight two seven five and I will
Speaker 3: be happy to take your donation that way.
Speaker 1: Believe me, she answers the phone.
Speaker 3: I did.
Speaker 1: This is great, this is so good. I see this
Speaker 1: happening in.
Speaker 3: Record time for thank you, thank you. We are really
Speaker 3: just so happy for all the support we've had through
Speaker 3: the years. I mean, it's not just financial donations. It's
Speaker 3: people volunteering their time. It's people donating fabric and sewing notions,
Speaker 3: crafting supplies. We take all of those and that's what
Speaker 3: helps us do our work. We could not survive without
Speaker 3: that because those things are expensive to buy.
Speaker 1: They are they don't grow on trees.
Speaker 2: They do not, the father used to say. But it
Speaker 2: does cost money. And this is going to be a
Speaker 2: great way to get behind the campaign. But first things first,
Speaker 2: go to the luell have some fun and then happily
Speaker 2: write there.
Speaker 3: Check, there you go, There you go. That's a great plan.
Speaker 2: Well there you go. This is really really neat that Laura.
Speaker 2: You know, I've seen you out about with different events.
Speaker 2: You had a big one here recently just a couple
Speaker 2: of months ago that had pretty good crowd.
Speaker 3: Well we have. We had the Personality the Purse auction
Speaker 3: in Tea, which was lots of fun, and that was
Speaker 3: April twenty ninth. We had our Marti Gras party, which
Speaker 3: was lots of fun, and that was much first, always, always, always,
Speaker 3: and that was March first, So you know, we're just
Speaker 3: keeping the celebrations rolling all year. Line.
Speaker 2: Well, it did something truly great to celebrate, and that's
Speaker 2: putting people back on the path where they need to
Speaker 2: be exactly.
Speaker 1: Wow.
Speaker 2: You know something, it's always great when near in here
Speaker 2: because there's all kinds of positive vibes coming from you
Speaker 2: and also coming from the fine work that happens at
Speaker 2: Martha's task.
Speaker 3: Well, thank you, thank you so much.
Speaker 2: And folks still forget about the campaign, get a hold
Speaker 2: of Laura and get ahold of Facebook or the website.
Speaker 2: Look up how to make sure that your gift keeps giving,
Speaker 2: So make sure that happens. Don't forget that after the
Speaker 2: show's over. Make sure that you get the check book out.
Speaker 1: Let's do it.
Speaker 3: Of course. Of course, can I tell you about one
Speaker 3: other opportunity?
Speaker 1: Bye, golly, you can.
Speaker 3: Well, we know that not everybody can get to our
Speaker 3: luou party, but they might want to help celebrate our birthday.
Speaker 1: Let's talk about the birthday.
Speaker 3: So we have an auction online that we have set up.
Speaker 3: It's just that I'm still just getting it going. I've
Speaker 3: got some of the items up there. It's at thirty
Speaker 3: two auctions dot com and it's going to run through
Speaker 3: June thirteenth. Okay, So we have some fun merchandise in there.
Speaker 3: We have this beautiful quilt that was donated to us,
Speaker 3: and so that's a good way for people to be
Speaker 3: able to bid on those items and support us. And
Speaker 3: you can live anywhere in the United States and we
Speaker 3: will ship it to you.
Speaker 1: Share that link with family and friends.
Speaker 3: Yes, thirty two auctions dot com. And it's something about
Speaker 3: Martha's test birthday.
Speaker 1: Well, you'll find it.
Speaker 3: All you have to do is search it.
Speaker 1: We will.
Speaker 2: We'll put that in the news story that we're going
Speaker 2: to put together too, so folks you can share that too.
Speaker 2: Will also put it on the Facebook thingy wonderful.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, we like doing that.
Speaker 2: We take care of our friends and partners here in
Speaker 2: town and all over our listening area. We want to
Speaker 2: ensure that good things keep on growing.
Speaker 3: Well, you all do a great job of supporting the community,
Speaker 3: and we really appreciate it.
Speaker 1: We try.
Speaker 2: We live here too. Maybe that should be our slogan.
Speaker 2: Came on, we live here too, we too, Martha It
Speaker 2: is always a pleasure. I mean, I'm sorry, Laura Walton.
Speaker 2: With Martha's task, it's always a pleasure to have you
Speaker 2: in here. You just light up the room.
Speaker 3: Thank you so much. I appreciate being here.
Speaker 2: All right, folks, we'll give you all the information here
Speaker 2: and just a little bit online, and we'll recap it
Speaker 2: and put it into a nice story here and share
Speaker 2: it with others too, because this is a great project,
Speaker 2: this is a great organization.
Speaker 1: It's well worth your support.