On this episode of the Stop Scrolling, Start Sewing podcast we're chatting about quilt charities and donations.
Links mentioned:
Quilts of Valor
Quilts of Honor
Project Linus
Wrap them in Love
Victoria's Quilts
Hopes and Dreams Quilt Challenge for ALS
The Giving Quilt
On this episode of the Stop Scrolling, Start Sewing podcast we're chatting about quilt charities and donations.
Links mentioned:
Quilts of Valor
Quilts of Honor
Project Linus
Wrap them in Love
Victoria's Quilts
Hopes and Dreams Quilt Challenge for ALS
The Giving Quilt
Hi, folks. I'm Nicole Gilbert and this is the stop scrolling start sewing podcast. Join me each Wednesday as I share the ins and outs of that, quote life. If you don't have a sewing machine, you can bust out of pretty fly. Why seem or you're just looking for the latest in quilting news. This is the podcast for you.
Hey, folks, Welcome to season three, Episode 11 of the stops rolling start sewing podcast. I'm your host, Nicole Gilbert, and I am beyond excited to have you here with me today. Whether you are listening on your way to work, or you're watching on YouTube, the biggest thanks from the bottom of my heart for taking some time and bringing me into your life. Thank you. I appreciate it more than you know. So, you guys on this episode, usually I'm talking about all of the things. And we're still going to talk about all of the things. But since this episode comes out the day before Thanksgiving, I thought today would be a great time to share some of the wonderful quilt charities that currently exist. And let you know about ways that you can participate or donate to these wonderful causes. So this time of year, we all like to really take stock of what we appreciate what we have. And just give thanks for all of the people in our lives that make these things possible. And here at Nicole Gilbert quilts, that is no exception. So I just wanted to share that this year. I am so grateful for each and every one of you. For those of you that have been on the journey with me, for several years now, you'll have seen my business go from a very small in person classes to a national podcast, becoming a National Educator for several rather large brands. For me becoming a brand ambassador for retail locations across the country, things are going incredibly well. And I one of the biggest things that I love to share, and hopefully inspire in all of you is how important it is for us to take some time out of our day and do something that we love. And that's what quilting has been for me. And over the past year or two things have really started to pick up as I turned the thing that I love into the thing that also supports myself and my family. And none of that would be possible without you. So I just wanted to say from the bottom of my heart. Thank you. Because every single one of you
are helping me live my dream. Okay, so there's that I got a little teary eyed. It is what it is.
Moving on. Okay, let's talk about Thanksgiving. And Thanksgiving is a pretty big dang deal. You're in the United States. For some of you, it will just be about wearing those maternity jeans one more time making some space in there for all that Turkey. And for some of you, you will take this day to give things a little bit closer to heart. But if you land in either of these camps, you are my people. So I am here for it. And for those of you who are not here in the United States with us know that your American counterparts are eating way more food than is good for them. Having big belly laughs with the people that they love, and getting super dressed up to hang out with in their kitchens. That's what we do in America. And it's a pretty good day. But when we're giving thanks and we're thinking about taking catalogues of all of the wonderful things in our lives, we should also be thinking about those that are less fortunate than ourselves. Oftentimes, we take these things for granted. And we take these people for granted and their current health and our current success for granted. And so one of the most humbling and best ways that we can really show the appreciation for what we have is to assist the Who's that aren't as fortunate as ourselves. And so even us quilters can play a role. I'm going to just list off this is not going to be a super long episode, I want you to spend time with your loved ones. But I am going to give you a list of some of the absolute best quilting charities around how you can participate, how you can benefit from them, if you so need their assistance. And if you are finding yourself in need and don't know where to turn, please send me an email at Nicole at Nicole Gilbert quilts.com. I may not know the answers, but I will do everything in my power to help. Okay, so let's talk charities. So the first two charities are very near and dear to my heart. As you all know, my husband is an active duty service member and a veteran and to charities, quilts of valor and quilts of honor, do a phenomenal job at providing veterans with quilts. And these quilts are made following specific quilting requirements. This isn't necessarily quilts that you could just like grab from your stock of quilts and send in they have to have a neat certain parameters to be accepted as a quilt of Valor or a quilt of honor. You can also nominate some a veteran in your life that you think deserves one of these quilts. And I can't speak for quilts of honor because I have not worked with them personally. But I believe they do operate in a similar way to quilt of Valor which I have participated in. And what happens is individuals or groups come together to make a quilt. And that quilt is made intentionally for a specific veteran. And at the end of the quilt when the quilt is completed, there's a presentation ceremony to that veteran, usually their loved ones are involved in the ceremony, if not also in the construction, a lot of times these quilts will get made because their loved one volunteered them for it. And so they're it's just wonderful to see over the years, especially as we've been a country that has been participating in wars for you know, the last 20 years or so, the veterans are getting younger and younger. My husband included and it's, it's very moving to see them receive their quilts, especially given the different life circumstances that they are all in. Also, I don't think there's ever a dry eye. When there is a Korea or Vietnam vet receiving their quilts there's something special about seeing those old timers especially because usually and if at all possible. A local unit will send some younger soldiers to be at or airmen or sailors for Marines to be at their ceremony as well depending on how well organized the ceremony is. And they're just it's a it's a beautiful thing and I hope that if you don't personally know a veteran if you assist in the making of one of these quilts and you keep them in mind as you make them it will change you so that's that's that I'm teary eyed today guys Holy smokes. Okay next up, quote charities that revolve around children. Probably the most known is Project Linus and Project Linus is specifically for children and yes it is named after that famous peanuts callin cap character. But if you recall from Peanuts, little Linus would carry his blanket around everywhere he went and that was his comfort item in Project Linus. They've donate these children's quilts to children who are ill and hopefully recovering. But they may be in hospitals, shelters, social services agencies. These are children who are I am going to cry left right and center in this episode. They are children who are not in the best circumstances, and your quilt can provide them with the warmth and the love that they may not currently be receiving. So, please give your quilt a second life and a second chance to love on one of these kids today, another phenomenal children's charity called Charity is wrapped them in love. And one of the reasons why I love wrapped them in love is because I have two nephews who are adopted. And they are just absolute Joyce, and just amazing human beings. And I cannot imagine our world without them. But it was created by a woman who adopted children. And one she was waiting for her children to come to her house to come home. She found herself thinking, is somebody caring for him? What if he's crying or being hugged? Is he being taken care of properly? Is he warm. And that's that thought process is where wrap them in love started from. And so she now sends quilts around the globe, to children in the foster or adoptive care systems, as well as in you know, shelters and other situations that may call for it. But the intent is that every child, no matter their circumstance, is wrapped in love. And that is just a wonderful thing. I am not going to get through this episode without crying. Alright, folks, so we have spoken about veterans, and we have spoken about children. And I have been a teary mess this entire episode. This is what happens when you talk about things that are near and dear to you. And as a military spouse with three very small children, thinking about these situations that people who are less fortunate than us have found themselves in, it gets me. So before we go, totally off the rails, because I can already tell that there's a lot of dead space that I'm gonna have to edit out of this podcast because I had to take several months to compose myself some other charities to think of. So I've named so far veterans and children's charities, these are the ones that are nearest and dearest to my heart. However, there are other wonderful charities out there. I mean, anytime we can think about somebody other than ourselves, it is a wonderful thing. But if you're looking for a more personal connection for why you're donating to this specific charity,
another great place to donate would be to Victoria's quilts. This charity was created in memoriam of Victoria Morrison. And the aim of the charity is to provide comfort to cancer patients. Victoria sister in law remembered how cold Victoria would get during her chemotherapy sessions. And the whole goal here is to keep cancer patients warm.
And so if this hits close to your house it to your heart, please
follow the links in the description. Another would be in support of ALS patients, it's hopes and dreams, quilt challenge for ALS. And so this is not a traditional open quilt donation organization. But they host quilting challenges for ALS patients and donate to ALS research. So participants vote on the best quilt from each challenge. And the winners are eligible for prizes, which is great. This is kind of like the quilt version of the ice bucket challenge. So this is a fun, different twist on it. I appreciate it. So if you recall the ice bucket challenge from a few years ago, on Facebook, you would nominate somebody, they would have to dump a bucket of ice on their head. And if they didn't dump the bucket ice on their head, they would donate $10 to ALS and it was a wonderful, wonderful drive for funding. This is a very similar thing except it's quilts. And so you can create beautiful quilts. You can earn prizes, but also in the process. You can drum up quite a few donations to the The ALS Foundation. So that's a great kind of alternative to just a straight donating your quilts. So, the giving quote, is kind of, I hate to say all purpose because when we're talking about charities, and we're talking about donations, I think it's really important to understand the why behind something, what is the motivation for the donation. But this don't this foundation, the the giving quilt does donate to a wide variety of nonprofit agencies. And these agencies range from Children's Hospital's neonatal units, military organizations, and like just so many more, you can donate a call at any time. And you could also take part in sponsored so days, which you can look up at their website, again, all links to all of these foundations will be in the show notes. They have days where you just like you would pay to go to your local quilt shop. And so for a day with friends, you could pay to sew for a day, and where all of the proceeds go to the Gildan quilt. But I did want to mention some other ways to donate besides these big national organizations. So which all of these are fantastic. And I would like each and every one of you to make your goal to be to participate in one of these over the next year. But some other things that you can do more locally to home versus these big national organizations. One of my favorites is to donate quilts, to your local fire department or police station. So and this one kind of hits close to home and I really saw it. And I've done this. When I lived in New York. The local police department, there happened to be a little girl who like wandered and rang our doorbell. And she was in her pajamas. And we lived in a very nice suburb. Like, it was very odd to see this little girl in her pajamas with her hair, not done barefoot on my front doorstep. First, I think God that she rang my doorbell and not somebody else's. Because I knew what to do with her, you know, I immediately made sure that she wasn't physically injured. I asked her her name, her phone number, her address, not all of which she knew because she was quite small. I think she may have been about three or four years old. And then I've wrapped her in a quilt. And I call the authorities. And they came and they said thank you for the quilt because she had no jacket. And they took her they went and they knocked on all the doors until they found her parents she had just wandered away. A parent, you know, had gotten distracted, and she wandered outside. And she just happened to knock on a door. The next street over so they got she wasn't too far from home. But it made me think, you know, this police officer didn't have a blanket in his car. And how many of these visits does he do? How many times does he pick up a kit? And they have no coat? How many times does he grab a woman from a domestic violence situation and she's running with nothing but the clothes on her back. And so I looked into it. And I was also fortunate enough that I knew somebody else that worked on the fire department and he said, quote would be amazing. When you have a fire happen, and these people run out of their house with nothing. And they're sitting on the curb watching their house burned down. Wrap them in a quote. So I would suggest if none of the organizations that I spoke about today, speak to you. That's okay. But maybe try reaching out to your local fire department or police department because it might be one of your neighbors that need help. Stop scrolling and start sewing