Our Team

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Gino Rich

Founder

Sew Much Hope started as a small initiative of Gino’s. He has dedicated his life to placing sewing machines in the hands of people who need them, working with international humanitarian organizations and local communities to develop sewing classes and transport sewing machines around the globe. For decades he has scoured pawnshops and thrift stores to find sturdy sewing machines he can convert into hand-crank machines to place in poor rural areas of the world without access to electricity.

Keith Longhurst

President and Director

Keith spent his professional career working as an engineer in food manufacturing to help improve the efficiency of manufacturing processes. These improvements included automating manufacturing processes and improving equipment maintenance productivity. For many years, Keith donated time to serve in various volunteer positions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He joined Sew Much Hope in 2024 looking to volunteer his time by refurbishing sewing machines but was immediately moved to coordinate the placement of our refurbished sewing machines with other non-profit organizations.

Steve Whitehouse

Board Member

Steve was born in Yokosuka, Japan but spent most of his growing up years in in Oklahoma and California. After serving as a young missionary for two years in Belgium and France, Steve studied and graduated from Brigham Young University. Most of Steve’s professional career has been spent in technology working for WordPerfect, Novell, Family Search and Brigham Young University. Beyond his work Steve has volunteered at Timpanogos Academy (a charter school) where he served on its board among other positions. He helped found Karl G. Maeser Preparatory Academy and is currently the CEO of Africompassion, an NPO that helps with providing education for children along with clean water to Tanzania and other country in Africa.