Community Services Activities 2017-2018
Charity
The sole charity focus for this year is making "nap quilts" for seniors residing in various Good Samaritan care facilities located in the Edmonton area.
Prior to the March general meeting some 50 quilts in total were given to the Good Samaritan Society. The generosity of the guild members has overwhelmed the Society. I am given to understand that after the quilts are delivered, the whole fund development office staff downs tools, leave their computers, and invite themselves to a quilt show and tell. They love our quilts.
Another 10 will be delivered later this month. Five of those were made by one of our members, a long-time supporter of the Society. These quilts have not been shown at show and tell but the committee hopes to photograph them and include pictures in the next article. One quilt is made up of shirtings... it is very similar to the ones shown to us by our January speaker.
Two of the quilts donated were slightly smaller than 55 inches by 75 inches, the size required for a lap quilt. It appears I did not include quite enough fabric in the "kit". The committee concluded we needed to do better, so now we include notes with the quilts to explain that additional fabrics can be had by contacting the committee but we are also taking more time measuring the pieces included.
The suggestion was made that the smaller quilts be given to the recipients to use while sitting in their wheelchairs. The Society thought this was a wonderful addition to our lap quilt donation as addresses the particular needs of those seniors.
We have received a certificate from the Society expressing their thanks.
(pdf of Thank you from Good Samaritan Society)
Our contact person there is Vanessa Ridden, Fund Development Coordinator. Arrangements will be for her to speak to the guild sometime in the New Year to provide some insight into the work of the Society, how the quilts were distributed and to allow her to express the Society's thanks for the guild's generous support.
Next Year's Charity
Finally, the guild year is quickly coming to a close.
This is an invitation for the members to submit their thoughts on what our focus charity should be in the 2018 -2019 year.
Submissions need to be sent by Tuesday, April 24, 2018.
Please include sufficient information so that we can identify the legal name of the charity, its purpose and the contact person for the charity. You may wish to include a brief sentence as to why you feel this charity should be considered.
To date only one submission has been received, recommending a charity project(s) for the coming guild year. This is an opportunity for members to remind us on the board of those charities that are of interest to the guild membership at large, and those that you as members which to devote your efforts and resources to. The last newsletter and website asked members to contact the 2nd VP with their suggestions. It would be appreciated if those suggestions could be sent directly to Dorothy Johnson, Guild secretary, (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ) so that she might comply this list for executive board to review in May 2018.
Erika Bottcher, 2nd Vice President (Charity)