The Happy Heart Quilt Guild has donated 50 quilts to Sleep in Heavenly Peace.
Guild President Julia Clark says they were looking for a community project and settled on Sleep in Heavenly Peace because who doesn’t want to help kids?
“We’ve had people donate fabric, cut fabric, sew individual blocks, others make them into the tops, others quilt them, others bind them and then finally they get labeled, stored, and hauled here today for our donating pleasure.”
Clark says all 50 members of the Quilt Guild had some part in the finished product handed over to the Vice President of Sleep in Heavenly Peace Stephanie Rakers.
“I wish every one of you could see your blanket and quilts go to these kids. We will walk in, the kids will grab their pillows and it’s over. So your labor of love has become our labor of love too. And we are able to share this and your gift with these kids. And I hope you realize just how much this means to us.”
Rakers says this weekend was also another bed delivery weekend with 14 more beds delivered to kids without beds in Marion County and ten in Jefferson County. That brings the total number of beds delivered to 735. A total of 913 beds have been constructed and are being stored in Salem, Centralia, Mt. Vernon, and Carlyle to deliver as more cases of kids needing beds are brought to their attention.
Rakers noted the local effort began in 2019 when she was recovering from a life-threatening surgery and saw a story on CNN on the national program and decided this is what she wanted to do as a thank-you for successfully coming out of surgery. Her husband and daughter along with numerous others then joined the effort.
