Comfort Quilts for New Zealand Earthquake Victims

Please consider donating a small (lap or crib-size) quilt to be sent to comfort victims of the February 22 Christchurch, New Zealand, earthquake. You may also donate an unfinished quilt top, which Ranell Hansen is willing to quilt gratis (up to 4 tops/ month).

I will be collecting quilts until we resume our sabbatical travels on April 22. After this date, Ranell Hansen (h: 684-7042) will accept quilts from those in Carpinteria and points south, while Tone Steiro (h: 682-2152, c: 284-7849) will receive quilts from Santa Barbara quilters, and Suzanne Zanesco (h: 967-4005) will collect from Goleta folks. The label should have the quilter's name, city, and country. There is no need to name your quilt if you don't want to.

Quilts will be shipped at the end of August. Qantas Airways Cargo has graciously offered some assistance with shipping costs but collection boxes are located at Craft Essentials (in Goleta) and the Treasure Hunt (in Carpinteria) should you also wish to help. (International shipping is obscenely expensive.)

While I would deeply like to extend this effort to include the many victims of the horrific Japanese earthquake/tsunami/ nuclear meltdown disaster, I don't know anyone in Japan who could handle distribution, so I humbly suggest that if you wish to help there that you make as generous a donation as you can manage to a reputable disaster relief agency.

Lastly, I am reiterating the message I voiced at the March CQG meeting:
PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT YOUR DISASTER PREPAREDNESS PLAN IS UP-TO-DATE.

For guidelines on disaster preparedness, visit the FEMA website (www.fema.gov). Also to talk to your neighbors about preparedness, and perhaps set up some kind of a network. It was very reassuring in Christchurch to have the neighbors checking up on us on a regular basis, although I don't recommend a disaster as the way to meet your neighbors.

Thanks for your involvement.
— Isabel Downs, 682-2152, ifdowns@cox.net

LETTER OF THANKS FROM NEW ZEALAND

Hello Isabel,
I had planned to e-mail you this weekend. I was asked back in August for quilts for people who worked for our Ministry of Social Development. This is a government organization, and they not only lost their business premises in the February earthquake but also have had to deal with a lot of the people affected. In addition to this, a lot of them have had homes destroyed etc. themselves. Part of our beautiful city has been zoned red by the government, which means people can no longer live there. 47 of the Ministry staff have been affected in this way as well (i.e., can no longer live in their home and have to shift elsewhere). I kept your bundle of quilts specifically for them. It took a while to organize but only two days ago I made a presentation of the quilts to these staff. There was a morning tea and we had all the quilts on display. They had no idea they were going to get them and before the speeches some asked if they were for sale. I then spoke about how these wonderful people from the USA had made quilts to give to those affected by the quakes. I talked about how they wanted to do something personally and that each quilt was handmade with love and that the quilter wanted the recipient to know that they care, that it's personal and they wanted to give comfort. I then said they were free to choose a quilt to take home. They were overwhelmed at the generosity of the quilters and the personal connection to them. I had a lady come and ask me if she could give me a hug of thanks. It was very emotional. While it is now over a year since our first major shake, people still need to talk about their experiences, each of them quite different. They were talking about these experiences as they chose their quilts, they helped each other chose a quilt and all clung to them as they spoke with me. There were men and women and all felt the love and compassion from your side of the world.

Regards, Catherine