QUILTS FOR HUGS

QUILTS FOR HUGS

Do you know about the Storms of the Century in Alabama on April 27th, 2011???  

Have you seen  pictures of the Devastation??

APRIL 27, 2011  

One of America's worst Natural Disasters in the form of F3, F4, & F5 level Tornadoes

brought forth death, destruction, and suffering to thousands in 7 states! Families were left with absolutely NOTHING!  The saddest picture (I wish I had it to show you) was of a little boy approx. 7-8 yrs. old with a blank stare on his face looking up a camera holding the Easter Basket he had found while his family was sifting through the rubble that used to be their home.  That one picture has haunted me and compelled me to help in a way that I as a quilter can hopefully effect the life of a child somewhere.

  To do this, I NEED YOUR HELP!!!  I am attempting to collect quilts. knitted blankets, fleece tied blankets to give to individual children impacted by the storm.  I've begun receiving donations from all over and for that I'm grateful! 

HOWEVER, I NEED SO MANY MORE TO MAKE A REAL DIFFERENCE.

Why do I think a quilt or blanket can mean anything to a child?  Wouldn't they rather have a toy. you ask??

Let me briefly tell you my story....

When I was 9 yrs. old, my family  moved to a farm with a house heated by a coal oil furnace.  My father mistakenly left some old rags next to the furnace and spontaneous combustion sparked a fire.  My father woke up in the wee hours of the morning to smoke coming out of the floor vents!  My parents scooped up my baby sister and I with blankets, sat us in the family Buick, parked it away from the house and told us to go to sleep and not to look back.  Long story short...Our house burned to the ground for lack of a volunteer fire dept and with the exception of a sewing machine, punch bowl, and box of family photos/baby books we lost everything.  There was no active Red Cross or other organizations to help fire victims in a small rural WV town in 1962.  Families and neighbors helped one another.

I went to school that following Monday with donated clothes and little black purse that I thought was so lovely.  However, cruel as kids can sometimes be, during recess that afternoon one of the "rich girls" was laughing at me with her group of  "mean girls".  *SHE* announced to what seemed the WORLD that I was carrying the black purse *SHE* gave my family because "I didn't really like that purse anyway".  I remember being so embarrassed, hurt, ashamed and wanting to run as far away as I could run.  I took that purse and hid it in my desk and never carried it to school again.

I've never forgotten the feeling of not OWNING something of my own.  Of course, I eventually had an entire wardrobe but for those first few months after the fire I wore donated clothes until my parents could get back on their feet.  A few days after that incident, a family friend brought me the most beautiful quilt with my name on it and the feeling of having something that was MY OWN, NOT a donation, was HUGE!!!!  That quilt kept me company during the nights I couldn't sleep for fear of another house fire.

IT IS MY TIME TO PAY IT FORWARD:

Won't you help me give a child a NEW QUILT, Knitted Blanket, Tied Fleece Blanket of their very own??!!
Please leave me a comment that you wish to donate a quilt or blanket and I will send you my mailing address.
You will put a smile on a lot of children's faces.  There are many still in the hospital with severe injuries that would appreciate a new quilt.

For Pictures of the storms Google Tuscaloosa or Harvest Tornadoes, 4-27-11

Thank YOU

Blessings