Quilts for the North
Please read the following message from Kathy Woodcock. Many, many thanks to Kathy for her wonderful work in co-ordinating Quilts for the North.
"I have been working toward cutting back as retirement looms. I continue to have folks call me about sending items north so have decided to send the following notice which provides a timeline but also makes explicit the need for others to take over if there is continuing interest in collecting quilts for northern Indigenous communities.
Tenth Anniversary of Quilts for the North!
In 2012, amidst Idle No More demonstrations, a group of young people from far north in Ontario, came to Peterborough to speak at Trent University about the conditions facing young Indigenous people and their northern communities. Local women gathered together a generous assortment of quilts to send North for those youngsters and their families. We then committed to keep sending to the North, each Fall and Spring. More than 2,000 quilts, most crib-sized, have been sent to welcome Indigenous infants into this world, as a result. It has been a well received and highly valued endeavour.
I have to give you all notice that I will only coordinate the next 2 shipments, one for Early November 2022 and the other next April, 2023. I am retiring next year and relocating. If anybody would like to step up and volunteer to continue the project and collection, I would be happy to share the names of folks in northern Ontario who receive and distribute the quilts for us. They are amazing, dedicated community workers. If anybody is willing to take over coordinating the twice-annual quilt collections, I will happily pass along all information and connect you with these key contacts who I have met mainly by random chance and good fortune over the last decade.
Contributions for the November collection can be given to Debbie Coleman at the next meeting.
Sincerely, Kathy Woodcock".
Quilts for Survivors
In response to the question about what can our Guild do to be part of this endeavour, the Membership agreed with a suggestion to bring a Quilt Block (nice to include the colour orange in the block) to the September meeting. The block is to be 12.5" x 12.5". The blocks will be made into quilts and sent to a survivor(s). There were 23 blocks displayed at the meeting. It was agreed that blocks could be brought to the October meeting. Dorothy Boehm is coordinating this project. Once the quilts are completed, the names of recipients will be requested from the Quilts for Survivors Organization and the Guild will send them directly to the recipients.
