Campton’s Sue Cheney likes to joke that it was a boisterous houseful of kids and grandkids that “inspired” the stay-at-home mom to get out and start volunteering. Nearly two decades after that first ‘Meals on Wheels’ delivery to area seniors, Cheney’s legacy of giving in her tiny mountain community and well beyond is an inspiration.

“I needed to get out of the house and do something,” Cheney says. “A lot of these people have nobody. It’s important for someone to look in on them and see how they’re doing.”

Since 1990, Cheney, 58, has been making the rounds in Campton and neighboring Thornton and Plymouth, bringing warm meals, books, and countless kind words to the 25 or so seniors and shut-ins she serves each week. She takes folks shopping; until recently ran the food pantry at Campton Baptist Church; and knits quilts and booties for young mothers and their infants at Plymouth’s Care Net.

Each year, Campton’s Sue Cheney knits hundreds of garments and bags for those in need both locally and in Honduras as a volunteer and as part of an ongoing church mission. (Photo: David Lazar)

These acts seem to come naturally to Cheney, who for years worked as a sewer for White Mountain Industries and Plymouth Stitching, knitting everything from quilts and pillows to Girl Scout uniforms. The daughter of a lifelong hand-sewer and mechanic, Cheney picked up her first needle and bobbin at age eight, learning from her grandmother how to weave everyday wonders for family and neighbors. Today, Cheney’s home resembles the aftermath of a quilting bee, every surface, it seems, occupied by an intricate piece of her homespun handiwork. “If you can’t tell, I buy fabric by the bolt here!” she says laughing.

She does so for a reason. In addition to the gifts she knits for family, friends and those in need locally, Cheney also hand-sews hundreds of colorful skirts, tops and hygiene bags each year for villagers in Honduras she visits as part of Manchester’s Vision International Ministries. This January marked her eighth visit to the struggling Central American nation as part of a team that delivers basic medical care, food, medicine and everyday necessities, from eyeglasses to school supplies. “I’ve got the best job,” she says. “I get to give stuff away all day long.”

Closer to home, she’s also given quite a bit. When her son Eric was born in the early 1980s with cerebral palsy and severe kidney problems, Cheney’s first instinct was to be tested and to donate one of her own kidneys. Today, both of them remain healthy in Campton. “I just have that need to help others,” she says. “I’ve been blessed in my life with a beautiful family. I don’t have to work, I have the time, and I enjoy doing it.”