Lamb of God Quilt Club donates 72 quilts to Richland County Children Services

May 14, 2012

SHELBY – It started with a few scraps of material, a few avid quilters and some extra time. It ended with a great donation of 72 quilts to foster children and other youngsters served by Richland County Children Services.

Bonnie White, a member of the Lamb of God (LOG) Quilt Club from Shelby, said the group loves to do things for the community.

“We saw where the Mansfield Board of REALTORS had donated backpacks to Children Services and we thought quilts would be a good thing to add to them,” said White.

The six quilters worked on the projects in their own homes during their spare time and then met every other Wednesday at Park Village Apartments to share their efforts. It took about two months from beginning to end to create the 72 hand-made quilts.

This was not a “one-size-fits-all” effort. The club created various sizes of quilts, from baby size to twin size for teenagers.

“From 9-patch quilts to biscuit quilts to jean quilts, the ladies managed to design to a special quilt for every child that will receive one,” White said. “There were quilts designed specifically for boys and for girls. Some had flowers and bears while others depicted football, camping or dinosaurs.”

Quilters included White, Burl Couch, Evelyn Gundrum, Shirley Conley, Linda Tackett and Martha Akers.

“We all had a good time doing it,” White said. “The funny thing is two of these ladies are 87 and 84 years old and they outworked all of us!”

Quilts were made from materials donated by several sources, including the quilters. “Wal-Mart of Ontario donated a gift card used to purchase some of the backing to help bring the quilt tops to life,” White said.

“One donor, Sara Bright, provided several truck loads of knit that her grandmother had used for sewing projects and was no longer needed. Fabric and a sewing machine was donated by Joyce Vo and a sewing machine was also donated by Ray Dickson for this project,” White said.

“Our main mission was to have the children know that someone cares for them through the receipt of a special, handmade quilt,” White said.

Lori Feeney, program supervisor for the agency’s ProtectOHIO Division, praised the donation.

“The quilts are a wonderful, thoughtful, tangible thing that our children can hold on to,” Feeney said.

“We may take for granted the little things, but for a child this is something they may keep for the rest of their lives. We appreciate the hard work and love that was put into making each of these beautiful quilts,” Feeney said.

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