Blue House
Creating a childhood and opportunity for orphans and vulnerable children in Uganda
Blue House Uganda (blue-house.org), sponsored by Hope Multipurpose, Inc. (HMI), is a small orphanage in rural Kazo, Uganda. The orphans and vulnerable children live in a safe family-like home with nutritious food, clothing, health care, mentoring, and support for education continuing through the vocational or university level. The organization was founded by the late Beatrice Garubanda, a Ugandan-American member of St. Matthew’s, in 2003. The painting of Beatrice (at right) was painted in 2016 by Leslie Barlow for St. Matthew’s, in recognition of her contributions to our church and community. It hangs in our sanctuary. While the Blue House is now a separate organization, St. Matthew’s maintains a close connection with it. Parishioners Cindy Howard and Karen Dickson serve on its board.
The Blue House Boutique is one of the biggest annual fundraisers for the Blue House. St. Matthew’s has helped sponsor the boutique with direct and in-kind funding from the beginning. The boutique is held every year on the first weekend in December and uses the fellowship hall, library, two classrooms, and kitchen.
All items we sell are handmade and donated, so there is ample opportunity to get involved. Before the sale, you can create items (household goods, clothing, gardening, jewelry, etc.) and make/bake food items. We have ideas for the items that sell well!
We always need help on the days before the sale setting up tables and displays and pricing all the donated items. During the sale we need cashiers, help in the kitchen, greeters, customer helpers, and shoppers! After the sale, we need help with the clean-up. Children, their parents, and teens are always welcome and we can suggest the roles that would be most appropriate and fun for them.
Please get in touch with Linda López for questions or to volunteer.
