SANTA MONICA QUILT GUILD
PHILANTHROPY
PROJECTS FOR 2006 -2007
The Philanthropy Committee gives the following report:
The members of the SMQG have met every challenge that was given to them this year. They contributed to all of projects with both hard work and gifts. The guild supported a variety of charities that needed help in several different ways. Each project surpassed every goal that we hoped to fill. We thank all our members for their outstanding generosity.
Scroll down this page to see the of projects supported by the Santa Monica Quilt Guild during the past guild year.
A
Pat of Love Quilts
Quilts made by SMQG members for Pat of Love Quilts
This organization provides lap-sized quilts to
cancer patients at St. Johns Hospital. Our goal is to be part of the support
system for the Oncology Department. Link to
APatofLoveQuilts.org to learn
more about this organization. We need your help!!
The preferred quilt size is 45 x 54 inches; quilts can be of any color, design
or style, tied or quilted. We also have tops to be completed, and we have some
batting available. This is a good way to practice a new skill or technique, and
if you have problems we will help you complete the quilt. We furnish labels with
the name of the quilter and the SMQG logo. At the end of the quilt year, the
names of all quilt makers will be put into a drawing for a pink Breast Cancer
Beanie Baby Bear and a pink fabric bundle. If you have a friend, family
member or know of someone who would appreciate A Pat Of Love please contact
our Philanthropy Chairs at
mmmquilts@yahoo.com.
More Pat of Love Quilts made
by guild members
Lions Club Eyeglass Recycling Program
The Santa Monica chapter of
Lions Club Int’l collects used eyeglasses. We will have a collection bucket
available at the Philanthropy table at each meeting.
"HopeLine" Cell Phone Recycling Program
Verizon has a recycling
program for cell phones to be refurbished for women in domestic abuse programs.
These women are given a prepaid phone to start new lives and/or contact
emergency services. We will furnish a box at each guild meeting to collect your
unwanted or outdated cell phones.
Toys for Tots/Spark of Love
SMQG Philanthropy Chairs presenting toys to
Fire Station #1
Our deepest thanks to all who so
generously donated toys in December 2006. Philanthropy was hoping to fill the box we brought to the
meeting with toys for underprivileged children. To our surprise, a larger
vehicle was needed to deliver the toys to Fire Station #1 in Santa Monica. We
collected 141 toys! An enthusiastic group of firemen played Santa’s
elves: Captain Menta (who corrected us to say that the toy drive’s proper name
is "Spark of Love"), Jim Enge, Matt Norris, James Altman, Daniel Woelfel, and
Jim Schier. Our collection of toys was the single largest drop-off that the
firehouse has ever received! The Red Cross picked up the toys for distribution.
Think of all the smiles, the squeals of joy, and the appreciation SMQG put in
the hearts and on the faces of children this year.
Thank you for your unselfish
gift of love to others.
World Aids Day 2006
At the
November 2006 meeting Red Ribbons were given to members to wear on December 1st as a symbol of
unity for the support of "Changing the course" on the AIDS pandemic.
Sojourn Services for Battered Women and Their Children
Cleaning supplies and household goods were collected and presented to
Sojourn. This organization provides housing and other services to women and
children in crises. SMQG has been a long time supporter of Sojourn.
OCTOBER 2006 WRAP UP REPORT
We have had a wonderful time this last year. As a group, the SMQG was able
to donate placemats and "dressed-up" bears to Project Angel Food, which
provides daily meals for people homebound or disabled by HIV/AIDS and other
serious illnesses. Then we collected clothing, food, toiletries and quilts
for the Downtown Women’s Shelter that provides housing for 47 women as well
as feeding an additional 80 women on a daily basis.
Additionally, we are pleased to announce that SMQG members contributed 24
quilts and 64 pillowcases for donation to our most recent charity, The
Children’s Circle. This organization provides residential services to all
medically fragile children in foster care, as well as providing case
management and psychosocial support services for families in the community
impacted by chronic and life-threatening diseases.
Project
Project
Use your favorite placemat design or click here
for a placemat pattern.
The Viewer's Choice Bears: Most Glamorous,
Silliest, Most Precious
January & February 2006
The Downtown Women’s Center
This is a
Residential women’s shelter for homeless women
whose other option is sleeping on the street. Many of the women have been
abused, are mentally ill or physically handicapped
and have no support
system at all.
The Downtown Women’s Center serves 1200 homeless women
and
has a residential facility for 47 women.
Food was delivered in time for Valentine's Day
The Children’s Circle
The Children’s Circle provides services to
children in foster care living with health conditions including HIV/AIDS and
spina bifida. It offers in-home services to high-risk families and operates
residential facilities where children receive care from 24-hour nursing
staff and social services professionals. They would be thrilled to receive home-made
items like crib sheets, receiving blankets and quilts. Directions for these projects will be
available at the
L.A.GOAL
WINTER & SPRING 2005
We have found a wonderful group of developmentally challenged artists in
4" squares of
fabric for patchwork
Olfa Cutter
blades - standard size
Straight pins w/colored heads
Sewing
machine needles - sizes 11, 14, 16
Non-slip
rulers - 6 1/2" square, 6”x12”, 6"x24"
scissors – for trimming threads
Thread -
cotton or cotton/poly - white, black and natural
LA Goal makes baby blankets which are their biggest seller, with one side
flannel and the other side a cotton print. They are requesting 1 yard lengths
of 100% cotton flannel and 100% cotton prints: boy, girl, unisex patterns,
including sophisticated non-traditional prints. Thank you for your support.
STITCHES FROM THE HEART
CONTINUING OUTREACH PROJECT
"STITCHES FROM THE HEART" is our main philanthropic outreach for
2003-2004.
The "Stitches From The Heart"
organization creates and distributes knitted & crocheted clothing and blankets
to premature newborns whose families are in need. It is based in West Los
Angeles and was established just 5 years ago but has already distributed over
60,000 items to hospitals and agencies serving premature infants and their
families. There is a real need for small quilts and receiving blankets no larger
than 30" x 40". The quilts NEED TO BE QUILTED, NOT TIED, as these infants
have very sensitive skin that can be easily irritated by tied quilts. Knitted or
crocheted blankets of this size are also welcome. Stitches from the Heart has a
website:
www.stitchesfromtheheart.org where patterns can be found for knit and
crochet items. Patterns and yarn will also be available at the SMQG meetings.
A small
GALLERY showing just a few of many items made by Guild members for
STITCHES FROM THE HEART has been added.
FALL
AND HOLIDAY
2004 PHILANTHROPY
REACH OUT AND READ
Thanks to the generosity of Santa Monica Guild members, donation of over 125
books has been made to the UCLA Pediatrics Unit for their Reach Out and Read
program. At each well baby visit every child up to the age of 5 will receive
one of these books to encourage literacy.
Reach Out and Read (ROR) -
www.reachoutandread.org - is a
program that promotes early literacy by bringing new books and advice about the
importance of reading aloud into the pediatric exam room. Doctors and nurses
give new books to children at each well child visit from 6 months of age to 5
years, and accompany these books with developmentally appropriate advice to
parents about reading aloud with their child. The ROR program model is based on
research that shows a connection between the frequency of sharing books with
babies and young children and enhanced language development. Since 1989, ROR
pediatricians have been prescribing books and reading aloud for their young
patients, with a special focus on children growing up in poverty. ROR trained
doctors and nurses are currently promoting pediatric literacy at over 2,000
hospitals, including UCLA’s Department of Pediatrics.
MEALS
ON WHEELS
PLACE MATS 2004
Santa Monica Quilt Guild members recently made
over 300 placemats for
seniors who are clients of MEALS ON WHEELS.
Click here to
see a sampling of the mats.
Placemats were presented to MEALS ON WHEELS at the August Guild meeting.
Click here for a quick and easy pattern for
PLACE MATS.
QUILTS FOR THE YWCA
TRANSITION PROGRAM
2004
Three Santa Monica Quilt Guild mini-groups made quilts for new
residents of the Santa Monica/Westside YWCA
Transition Program for women leaving the foster care system. Scrappy Stars,
Friendship Stars and Loose Threads made twin size quilts for the new residents
scheduled to move in during the next few months.
Quilts were given to the YWCA in June.
TUTWILER
QUILTERS
HOLIDAY OUTREACH PROJECT
COMPLETED IN DECEMBER 2003
The
SMQG Holiday Outreach for 2003 was to the TUTWILER QUILTERS of Tutwiler, Mississippi. These quilters
are part of the Tutwiler Community Education Center which provides services at
no charge. The Center has sports programs, tutoring and mentoring for
young people, parenting classes, senior programs, free medical clinic, Habitat
for Humanity, and A QUILTING COMMUNITY.
The Tutwiler Quilters was established by the Center in 1988 as a way for women to earn funds to support their families and help preserve the tradition of African American improvisational quilting. The individual quilters keep 80% of the quilt sales with 20% going back to the Tutwiler Quilters for fabric and supplies. In order that their quilts may reach a wider audience, a donor recently set up a web site for them: www.tutwilerquilters.org. The quilts are machine pieced and hand quilted.
In December four boxes of fabric and notions, as well as monetary donations were sent to the Tutwiler Quilters from members of the Santa Monica Quilt Guild.
PET PILLOWS 2004
Remember to bring in small fabric scraps
to fill pillow cases to make pet pillows. The Lange Foundation is one of
the recipients for our pet pillows. It is a West Los Angeles based
non-profit organization dedicated to rescuing pets from animal shelters.
There will be pillowcases at the guild meetings ready to be filled with fabric scrap
donations. Donations of old pillowcases are also welcome.
After the December guild meeting several pillows were donated to the Lange
Foundation. This is an ongoing project, so keep scraps and old pillowcases
coming!
OTHER PROJECT UPDATES 2004
Santa Monica Quilt Guild sent five challenge blocks for the QUILT FOR THE CURE
to American Patchwork & Quilting Magazine to be included in auction
quilts to benefit women's' cancer research.
Enough Hugs and Kisses blocks were returned to make three quilts.