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COMMUNITY SERVICE

See community service
opportunities in the
navigation bar at left.
The non-profit bylaws of the Guild require the members to promote and encourage quilt making. The Community Outreach committee takes quilting projects to schools and senior citizen and community centers, and provide a variety of classes and presentations on the history of quilting and the techniques of quilt construction and design. There are more requests for classroom visits than the Guild can provide due to the popularity of this service.

Notes from Community Service
Community Service delivered 275 finished quilts and 75 flannel blankies to five local pediatrics' wards in 2007. Maryhouse received 7 grocery sacks full of unopened toiletries and two grocery sacks full of hand-knit hats. Everyone who fulfilled their membership obligation to make a quilt for donation to the community is very much appreciated by those who were in need. How can each and everyone of us stay (or become) involved in the Community Service component of the Guild?

Here are a few suggestions:

  • Donate unopened and unused toiletries to our table at a monthly meeting;
  • donate knit hats or yarn for others to knit;
  • donate fabric to community service's stash (yes, we will always take fabric!);
  • donate a finished quilt top (please, 36" width maximum);
  • make a quilt for worknight from a prepared kit (there are some leftovers and these will be available at the January meeting);
  • participate in Block of the Month;
  • check out a quilt to finish at the monthly meeting; or
  • donate a whole quilt appropriate for a juvenile.
 LOCATION
Join us on the first Wednesday of each month, from 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM, Community Service volunteers process (many steps that we'd love to teach you) the quilts that RCQG donates to many of our local hospitals' pediatric wards. We are open to new ways to serve the community, and your ideas are welcome.

Bring a sack lunch; hot water and mugs will be provided. We meet at the spacious home of longtime guild member Joyce Reece.
 
Joyce Reece, 6816 Sutter Avenue, Carmichael, CA 95608
For directions: (916)944-2772 (call for directions, the first time there can be a little challenging)
 
Community Service Chairs:
Mary Jane Motter
Jackie Kelly
MORE ABOUT COMMUNITY SERVICE
The Guild is a non-profit organization with a broad outreach program. The Community Service committee provides over 200 quilts each year to hospital pediatric intensive care units (Kaiser, UC Medical Center, Sutter Memorial, and Mercy San Juan) and others. Members also collect and donate toiletries to organizations for the homeless (Mary House, St. John's Shelter, Salvation Army, and WEAVE).

Contact us to find out how you can participate or use the links
in the left navigation area to see the many Community Service Opportunities.

Get involved! Volunteer! 

July 2009 Report: Community Service Goes On!

Community Service is an active group; we met twice this month. We had our regular meeting at Joyce Reece’s home and met at Beverly’s craft and fabric store. We would like to extend a special thanks to Joyce Reece for allowing our committee to meet at her home every month. We are able to store our fabric and supplies at Joyce’s home, as well as have our regular meetings there. We have a great time and anyone interested is invited to come help and share in the work and fun. These people have attended most of our regular monthly meetings: Jackie Kelly, Mary Jane Motter, Lila Erl, Alice Coleman, Elaine Mason, Vera Karnes, Shir Lee Belilse, Charlotte Westlake, Ruth Schindler, Blanche Wood, Elfrida DeLany and Joyce Reece. Sharon Moos, Liz Hutzler, Clair Kinsley and Kathy Grabowski have each attended one or two times. We will be delivering 70 finished quilts to children in local hospitals at the end of this month.

In addition to our regular meeting at Joyce Reece’s home this month, we also spent one day at Beverly’s in Carmichael, quilting tops that had been completed. We would like to thank Beverly’s and Shir Lee Belisle for making this arrangement for us. Those that helped at Beverly’s were: Shir Lee Belilse, Ruth Schindler, Janet Van Wert, Carol Zelinski, Jackie Kelly and Mary Jane Motter.

Thanks to all the quilters that picked up quilts last month and returned them completed this month. We had a lot of quilts turned in at our June meeting and at our Community Service meeting. The following people turned in finished quilts or quilt tops: Elaine Mason, Mary Jane Motter, Elfrieda DeLany, Lila Erl, Alison Koch, Vera Karnes, Joyce Reece, Dee Irwin, Caroline Lunstra, Shir Lee Belisle, Sherry Werham, Janet Van Wert, Judy Horne. Kristy Updegraff, June Gladney, Charlotte Westlake, Kathy Mitchell and Allison Ware. Vera Karnes, Joyce Reece and Katherine LaRue also turned in bags to give to the Children’s Receiving Home.

We delivered quilts to Mercy San Juan, Neonatal and Pediatrics, Mercy Methodist Pediatrics and Sutter Memorial Pediatrics on July 6. Everyone was glad to see us and very grateful for our donations. We also have a donation ready to go to Kaiser Pediatrics (which has relocated to Roseville). Thanks to Bob Kelly for driving Jackie and Mary Jane around to all the hospitals. It made the trip easy.

Our thanks to all our quilters who have helped finish quilts that were worked on at our Community Service Night and to those who have completed donations of their own creation. The people that have contributed are: Dee Irwin, Caroline Lunstra, ShirLee Belisle, Sherry Werham, Janet Van Wert, Judy Horn, Kristy Updegraff, June Gladney, Charlotte Westlake, Joyce Reece, Vera Karnes, Elfreda DeLaney, Kathy Mitchell, Allison Ware, Alison Koch, Marie Nelson, and Patricia Pratt. Katherine La Rue, Vera Karns and Joyce Reece turned in some bags to given to the Children’s Receiving Home.

We had a nice meeting at Joyce’s house on July 1. We met outside on the deck, in the shade. We assembled and tied some quilts, put on labels, did some machine quilting and other handwork. We all worked hard and had a good time doing it.

Letter of Thanks. . .

Dear River City Quilters' Guild,
I am a member of Gateway Quilters' Guild in Modesto, CA. Like many of you, I spend some time each year making 2 or 3 quilts to be given away by others to people I have never met.
Last week, I walked into a Pediatric ICU room in Sacramento. As I gave my brother a hug, he wept as he said, "Look at the quilt they made for us!?" And there covering his dying 7 year old daughter was a bright, colorful expression of care from one of you. My niece was warmed and snuggled by that quilt clear up to the end. Then, the quilt was brought home as a precious memento.
My brother had no way of knowing that together we make lots and lots of quilts for "Charity." To him, that quilt was made for them personally and it was received with great humility and thankfulness.
I relay all of this to you to encourage you and to thank you. These quilts that we make mean much more than you or I ever imagined.

Community Service quilts are
distributed for completion during
one of the monthly meetings.