Fabric donations pour in after Tribune article

By Julia Boyle
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE

Not long after The Erickson Tribune published a story about Oak Crest’s Sewing for Refugees quilting group in February, Community Resources Coordinator Ashley Goles received a phone call.

“A man called who said he had read the article ‘From Rags to Riches’ in The Erickson Tribune. He wanted to know how he could donate fabric to our group,” Goles says.

Soon after Goles spoke to him, a “Xerox-size” box of fabrics arrived at Oak Crest. “We’re always pleased when people donate something,” says Minerva Houck, the group’s founder and leader.

Fabric galore
Group member Hazel Hodges says that since the article ran their donations have increased. “Just today we received five boxes,” she says. “And last week we had a donation from a decorator who had heard about us in the [Tribune].”

Hodges inventories and measures all fabric as it arrives. While most of the 35 members work two to three days a week in one of the two creative arts studios on-site, Hodges works four days a week just to keep up with all the contributions.

The group uses washable materials such as cottons for patterns, blankets for linings, and sheets for backings. Together, each layer makes a 60- by 80-foot, one-of-a-kind quilt, which the group takes to the Church of the Brethren distribution center in New Windsor, Md. The center then ships the quilts to places like Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Africa, and Sudan.

Keep ‘em coming
Even with several donations a week, “Sewing for Refugees” creates nearly 200 quilts a year. That requires a lot of fabric.

Each one uses 108 7 ½-inch squares. “We can’t operate without donations,” Hodges says. “We need to continuously receive them because we constantly use what we have.” Aside from fabric, the group also graciously accepts sewing equipment. “We really need newer and more sewing machines,” Houck says. “We use ours so much they are beginning to wear out.”