The Mukilteo Lighthouse Quilters is a small group of about 50 quilters. One of our missions is to make and donate quilts to deserving children and adults in our community.
Comfort Quilts 2023
We had a wonderful year of charitable giving!
Our guild provided the two charities we partner with a total of 130 quilts:
Hand in Hand:
Safe Place 54 quilts
Graduation 25 quilts
Homage:
General 29 quilts
Veteran 22 quilts
The committee works together to coordinate both donated fabric and purchased fabric. Several times during the year, we display all of our coordinated fabric packs during our meeting and our members can select a set to create a comfort quilt.
Making these quilts is sometimes completely done by one member, but we do have members who like to just piece, and some of our members who are long arm quilters will volunteer to machine quilt. Several times during the year, the committee will set up “Sew-In’s,” so we can come together, sew for our charities, share our work, learn new techniques and of course, socialize.
If you have some unused cotton fabric or an unfinished quilt project from you or a family member, we will lovingly up-cycle it into a new comfort quilt for donation. Mukilteo Lighthouse Quilters is registered as a 501(c) 3 charitable organization and can provide you a receipt for your donation reporting.
Each May we hold the Comfort Quilt Show, where finished comfort quilts are put on display at the monthly MLQ meeting. One new focus: Red/White/Blue themes for our Service Veterans!
Hand In Hand
We give quilts to “Hand In Hand” for foster kids in Snohomish County who either graduate or get their GED from high school. Since only about only about 30% of foster children graduate from high school this is quite an accomplishment. “Hand In Hand” celebrates foster children who have not only graduated from high school but from foster care. A special dinner is held for them and their foster families as they transition out on their own. Each student is given a gift basket containing some essentials for starting life independently: basic linens, towels, kitchen supplies and one of our quilts, which they get to choose.
Hand In Hand, Safe Place
“Hand In Hand” provides a Safe Transitional Place, thus “Safe Place” for children from infancy to 12 years of age who have been removed from their homes during a time of family crisis. The facility in South Everett is licensed to be open seven days a week and a child may stay there for three days while a social worker finds just the right foster home for them. The children receive medical care, clothing, warm meals, and lots of “tender loving care”. For the last few years the committee has encouraged our membership to bring donations of underwear, socks, and pajamas to the club’s annual Christmas party to be given to the facility. Every year we are quite overwhelmed with the large donations we are able to provide Safe Place to help them start their new year.
Homage “Meals on Wheels”
We also donate quilts to Homage of Snohomish County’s, “Meals on Wheels” program. “Meals on Wheels” offer nutritional meals for homebound adults 60 and older in Snohomish County. The drivers select quilts to give to those they call upon. They have a great time looking at all the quilts and finding just the right one for one for their special clients.
If we hear of special needs in Snohomish County, we may make other quilt donations.