Creativity with a Cause
As quilters, sewers and crafters, we are known for being generous with our time and talents. Whether you're looking for a worthy cause that would appreciate your talents, or your
organization has a community project to share with others, Marcus Fabrics supports the efforts of creative stitchers everywhere!
QUILTS OF VALOR UPDATES!
Quilts of Valor / Under Our Wings - an Industry Effort to Support Our Troops
The special website for the "Under Our Wings" program introduced by Marianne Fons is now operational, sharing information for retailers and volunteer quilters alike.
You're probably already familiar with the AMERICAN VALOR FABRICS COLLECTION by Faye Burgos for Marcus, as part
of the quilting industry's new program, spearheaded by Marianne Fons of Fons & Porter fame. It's actually part of a larger, ongoing program called Quilts of Valor. The
mission of the QOV Foundation is to cover ALL service- members and veterans touched by war with wartime quilts called Quilts of Valor (QOVs). The volunteer organization
stresses that their work is not politically based, but rather, "it's about people." Chapters exist nationwide to help organize the effort.
Recently, Barbara Winkler, chair of the Southern CA chapter of QOV, shared with us that her group "just numbered
quilt #1250 and delivered 460 quilts this year alone! Thank you to all you quilters who help make it happen!!"
To get involved, visit www.qovf.org to locate the chapter closest to you.
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| The HeartStrings Quilt Project is an online group of quilters who have joined together to make and
donate String Quilts to local charitable organizations. Group member Mary Johnson explains, "We support each other with encouragement and inspiration as we work on our own
string quilt projects and we contribute to group quilts through donating blocks, assembling and quilting tops. All the details of the project are available on our website,
while the group's blog shares current progress." |
| Project C.A.M.P.
(Children are Magnificent People) is a not-for-profit medical camping facility, scheduled to open in 2008 in Scottsville, KY. It will benefit seriously ill children ages 7
through 15, at NO COST to the child or the family. Based on the concept from Paul Newman's Hole In The Wall Camps, the dream for Camp Courageous began when its Founder,
Elizabeth Turner Campbell, visited a Newman Camp in Central Florida. Each bed will be adorned with a twin size quilt (65" x 90'). The facility will need 300 quilts upon
opening, and a steady supply thereafter, as an estimated 4,000+ children and family members will visit annually. Project C.A.M.P. is being planned as a stellar facility,
unparalleled or unequaled in this part of the country. Please visit www.courageouskids.org. We're anxious to welcome the bravest children we know. Your support in this endeavor
will be appreciated SEW much. For more information, contact Stormi Norman, VP of Communications. |
| Binky Patrol is a national organization that provides quilts to children in need of comfort due to
illness, emotional trauma, or economic hardship. Visit www.binkypatrol.org. (Submitted by Kathy
Gumbleton, local area coordinator for the Pasadena, CA chapter of this national organization.) |
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Marcus Fabrics Contributes to the
Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
In keeping with our practice of giving back to the community, Marcus Fabrics has donated a percentage of sales from our pink ribbon fabrics to the Breast Cancer Research
Foundation.
Based in New York City, the not-for-profit organization strives to achieve prevention and a cure for breast cancer on our lifetime, by providing critical funding for
innovative clinical and genetic research worldwide. It also works to increase public awareness about breast health. To make a donation, and learn more about the Foundation,
visit www.bcrfcure.org |
| The Sunshine Quilt Guild, an online guild with members worldwide, makes quilts for Wrap Them In
Love (quilts to orphanages overseas) and Wrap-a-Smile (an extension of Rotoplast, sending quilts with doctors who perform cleft lip/palate surgeries overseas), reports Janet
Gray, a member from Wisconsin. Visit http://sunshinequilts.hypermart.net |
| Barbara O’Neill started her “To The Top” project in October 2003, after losing her son in
combat in Afghanistan. Her group has delivered over 100 quilts to veterans who live in state/federal subsidized residences across Mass. and NH, and welcomes new members to join
in their efforts. Contact Barbara: Cindergirl911@aol.com. |
| Operation
Kid Comfort is a national project of the YMCA that creates quilts for the emotional comfort of children of deployed US servicemen and women. |
| Quilts for Kids was
founded in August 2000 to transform discontinued designer fabrics into quilts that comfort children with cancer, AIDS and other life-threatening illnesses, as well as battered
and abused children. Contact Linda Arye. |
| Care Wear Volunteers is a
nonprofit organization of volunteers nationwide that provides handmade apparel, blankets, toys, and burial garments to infants and families in need. Contact Bonnie
Hagerman. |
| The KIA Memorial Quilt Project is an online network of quilters making quilt blocks and complete
quilts for each of the servicemen and women that have been killed during Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. They are also making neck coolies to send to
the Troops. Contact Rochelle Baisch through the KIA Memorial Quilt website. |
| Newborns in Need |
| Project Linus - Providing
Security Through Blankets. |
| ABC Quilts - A national
charity providing love and comfort through quilts to at-risk children afflicted with HIV, fetal alcohol or drug conditions, or that are abandoned. ABC also provides prevention
education materials for educators and youth leaders in a program called Kids Making Quilts for Kids. Visit www.abcquilts.org
on the Internet. |
| The Home Sewing Association
lists other volunteer sewing opportunities. |
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Share your information here on our site. Write to . Submissions may be edited for space and clarity. Please include a phone number, email address or website address. |
