Update on Charity

Hello everyone. We wanted to give you an update on our Community Service efforts. Since July, we have donated 107 quilts. Here is the breakdown:

• 30 twin size quilts to I-HELP. To read more about I-HELP, please see this article written by Ellen O’Brien, Kathy’s daughter: https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2018/08/17/church-campout-faith-community-provides-food-shelter-for-homeless-in-chandler/. If you would like to read the press release we are coordinating with I-HELP, it is attached.
• 8 twin size quilts to Gathering Humanity. Penny was approached by Gathering Humanity about twin size quilts specifically for refugee children. Gathering Humanity is a local non-profit organization that helps resettlement agencies set up apartments for refugees. The resettlement agencies have many federal laws they have to meet when setting up an apartment, and one of those requirements is that each child have a bed and bedding. Gathering Humanity is always in need of twin size quilts and comforters for refugee children. Since we had an excess of twin size quilts, over and above the 30 we planned for I-HELP, we gave eight to Gathering Humanity. You can read more about Gathering Humanity here: https://www.gatheringhumanity.org/.
• 54 to the Phoenix Women’s Veterans Program. These 54 quilts are all baby quilts that will be included in baskets given to veteran moms. The program is housed at the VA Hospital in North Phoenix, but the baskets are provided to all veteran moms in the system. Thank you Joann Reiter for contributing the majority of these quilts!
• 19 quilts, including two twin size quilts, to Southwest Network. This is the organization that Debbie Ament’s daughter, Jessica, introduced to us at the last meeting. Jessica is open to additional donations as well – dishes, pots, pans, sheets, household items and interview clothing (especially for men). You can read more about Southwest Network here: http://www.southwestnetwork.org/ni/. If you have items to donate, you can bring them to any meeting and Debbie will get them to her daughter.
• 4 quilts to Quilts of Valor. We will continue to look through our incoming quilts to find those that meet the parameters of Quilts of Valor. If you would like to piece a top specifically for Quilts of Valor, let us know. Debbie has supplied us with labels for Quilts of Valor, and Community Service can supply batting and backing.

Our Community Service sew-in on July 30 brought 17 of us together to create kits ready to be quilted. We had the tops… we just needed batting and backing pieced and kitted. Leslie Schneider and Debbie took oodles of kits home and have been working their way through quilting and binding them. We so appreciate all the work you ladies do… and that goes for everyone else who contributes to our Community Service efforts.

In the next couple of months, we will be reworking some of our piecing kits to give you fresh opportunities for making Community Service quilts. If you have suggestions for new patterns, please let us know.