Local Retired Teacher Gerry Barber Wins National Award

Barber is being recognized for contributions to the Dearborn County Retired Teachers’ Pillowcase and Shorts project for overseas missions.

Gerry Barber. Photo provided.

(Dearborn County, Ind.) - Gerri Barber has won the prestigious National Retired Teachers’ With Our Youth! Award in recognition for her work with the Dearborn County Retired Teachers’ Pillowcase and Shorts project for overseas missions.  According to Shelisa Ashford, AARP’s Educator Community representative, ”award winners were chosen for their service to youth by an independent selection panel and scored for how well the project addressed the five promises to our youth (provide caring adults, a safe place to learn and grown, health/wellness, effective education, and opportunity to serve.  Submissions were also ranked for the use of innovative problem-solving to address a specific challenge and the overall impact and benefit to the youth community.”

Gerri Barber has a heart of gold.  She lives her faith.  Neighbor Betty Lambert says that Gerri is “an avid church goer whom she and neighbor Lou Hoffmeier can call on for anything.  I don’t drive, but I could call on Gerri for anything and she would help.  I have never heard anything negative said about Gerri Barber.  She takes her ninety year old neighbor Lou Hoffmeier to the grocery store and to the doctor;  she also takes care of her home while she is gone.  She will do anything that is asked of her.”

It was Barber who one day six years ago after finding a pillowcase dress pattern asked her ladies’ coffee group, “Can we do this?”  Thus began the retired teachers’ pillowcase dress project.   Since then over 5000 dresses have been made to send to the orphanages and tent cities in Haiti; to a mission in Tanzania; to the projects in Goiania, Brazil; with the doctors’ Smile Train cleft lip and palette program in Manaus Brazil; to India; and to a school in Togo, Africa.  Currently the retired teachers are working with Kids Against Hunger, which is partnered with A Child’s Hope International, to send dresses along with the vitamin-fortified rice that is sent to various missions.  She personally has taken dresses and afghans to a cousin’s church in Florida who serves a lot of Hispanic families.

It was Barber who decided that after the pillowcase dress project was firmly established and underway, that the boys in these countries also needed some clothes to wear.   She personally has constructed over 1000 pairs of shorts.  She currently is working on some shorts for the girls to wear with the pillowcase dresses.  She and co-captain Jean Vaughan have spoken to other groups about making the dresses and shorts.  By sharing patterns and talking to others, she hopes to get others involved so that more children can be outfitted.

As a retired teacher, Barber has read to students during Read Across America week, has worked with Central School’s Pen Pals Program, has served as a Central Elementary School tutor, and as a Lawrenceburg Primary School teacher’s aide.

Mary Lewis, Executive Director of the Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP), has catalogued multiple volunteer hours for Barber, including 4900 hours with such projects as Fun Learning, Heart to Heart, the Military Project, RSVP’s sewing and crocheting projects, and RSVP’s fund-raising and mailings.  1790.25 hours have been donated to the Dearborn County Social Council’s Friendly Visiting program and their Transportation Services.  Barber participated in Friendly Visiting with the Dearborn County Social Council, helped with the Hospital Emergency Dolls, attended the Purdue Extension Homemakers Club meetings, participated with Lawrenceburg Main Street, worked with the Pregnancy Care Center, helped at the Clearinghouse Store, and helped out at PAWS and Headstart.  Lewis states, “We are very proud to have her (Gerri) as part of our organization. 

Relay for Life coordinator Judy Mosier reports that Barber has donated 65+ hours annually to the Apple Pie ministry for the American Cancer Society.  She takes and delivers orders and comes to most of the work days.  Mosier reports that Gerri is “the best homemade noodle maker around.”

Friend Fran Bishoff comments that “Gerri is my walking buddy.  We walk together every day.  We encourage each other to keep walking.  She has a lot of self-control in her walking and her diet.  All in all, she’s a good person.”

Jan Bowlin, secretary of Hamline Chapel where Gerri attends regularly says that she met Gerri years ago as a counselor at Camp Ladegrau.  “I think Gerri is a wonderful person.  I have known her for so long.”  She is involved in many activities within the church, including the missions’ project, the Mary-Martha Circle, and United Methodist Women (UMW). ”  She and Beth Main make quilts to order.

Fellow retired teacher Etta Boswick says that “Gerri is a humble servant who gives freely of her time.  She does a lot of work without seeking any recognition.”

If Gerri isn’t babysitting grandkids, she is attending their sporting events.  Her grandkids ask Grandma to make birthday cakes for their girlfriends and boyfriends.  She stays active and involved with her grandchildren regardless of their ages.

It is a great honor to recognize one of the true servants of our community.   The retired teachers wish to congratulate Gerri on this honor and thank her for her years of service.