From head to heart

When Keith Karr sits down to watch football on Sundays, he’s not on the couch eating nachos and drinking beer.

Karr, a welding instructor at Chippewa Valley Technical College, takes the time to multitask. He’s sitting at a long table in his home with his foot on a pedal, feeding pieces of cotton into his sewing machine as it hums along.

The 55-year-old, who has been an instructor at CVTC for 11 years and before that, a welder fitter for decades, saw a need for welding caps for his students so they don’t get sparks between their helmets and their heads.

“It gives you that little bit extra comfort, and with the welding, you know, the sparks fly,” he said. “It helps, and it just feels better on your head.”

Who better than Karr to figure out a pattern that works and start sewing them – all different sizes – in his free time?

“The fall is when I do most of it,” he said. “Because then I can watch the Packers game. That’s my time to catch up on the sewing.”

He waits for sales on material, buys in bulk, starts sewing and sells the caps to welding students and the public. Each cap is $15. He doesn’t take money out of his sales to cover the fabric or thread. Instead, he gathers all the money from sales and takes it directly to the College’s food pantry set up for students in need.

In 2023, Karr gave nearly $700 to the CVTC food pantry for students.

“Most people don’t give money. They give canned goods, which are starchy with sugar and salt,” he said. “People need fresh vegetables, fresh meat and things that can’t be donated.

“I thought, ‘I can keep the money, or I could give it away to help even more students.’ And then it’s students helping students. So that’s what I did.”

Christine Webster, Student Life assistant at CVTC who manages the student food pantry, said all donations are important to the success of the pantry, but monetary donations allow Webster to purchase milk, butter, eggs and produce when she finds them at discounted prices.

Webster often connects with Kwik Trip stores throughout the Chippewa Valley to take advantage of sales.

But first, Karr must sell. And sell he does.

Karr has former students come back to purchase the caps. Students from businesses throughout west-central Wisconsin and through the College’s Workforce Solutions training programs also knock on the instructor’s door to make purchases.

When asked why he donates so much of his time and money to make the caps, Karr said older welders showed him the way as well.

“None of us are really in teaching for the money. I’m older. I’ve been union my whole life. I want to give back,” he said. “Some of the senior guys did pay it forward to me when I was younger. Now I get to show the younger ones the way.”