Other Non-Emergency Organizations Receiving Quilts
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Douglas County Task Force
Castle Rock CO (Birthday Room)
If a parent doesn’t have enough money to buy a present for their child’s birthday, the Task Force allows them to choose one nice gift from the Task Force's Birthday Room to take home with them.
Susanne Greene, (far right) Douglas County Task Force director, displays some of our FHQ snuggle quilts with three of her employees. FHQ quilts are kept in their ‘Birthday Room’.
Next Task Force Delivery, December 2007
We wanted to be sure they had enough snuggle quilts to give the children for Christmas time so on
December 17, 2007, we delivered 23 more quilts
to their main office in Castle Rock.
Pictured to the right are the ladies in the office, including Suzanne Greene on the far right and
Ellen Palmer (FHQ) in front, displaying a special Christmas pattern created by Bonnie Guy (FHQ).
They were so excited to receive the quilts because they had a lot of people coming in that week that needed assistance and had no money to
buy Christmas gifts for their children.
Our delivery came just in time.
2
Gateway Safe House Battered Women's Shelter
Denver, CO
Barbara McCrorie, Joy (Gateway Safe House) & Dusty Darrah delivered over 100 snuggle quilts for the children affected by domestic abuse/violence.
Joy sent a nice thank you card soon after
receiving their delivery.
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Douglas Co. Sheriff CSVs
Castle Rock, CO
Douglas County Sheriff Dave Weaver & Community Safety Volunteer Mike Darrah display one of the FHQ snuggle quilts we donated for them to give to children in crisis.
You can read stories of quilt deliveries by CSVs here.
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Conifer Resource Center
Conifer, CO
We delivered 40 snuggle quilts to the Conifer Resource Center.
They help people in need up in the hills west of the Denver area.
Marvena Baker-Shriver is their Dir of Operations.
Here’s Marvena’s message after receiving our donation.
Vicki Kowal and Marvena Baker-Shriver
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Denver Rescue Mission
Denver, CO
Barbara McCrorie (far left) & Ellen Palmer (middle in red) made a large quilt delivery to the Denver Rescue Mission in May 2007.
Larry Griffin (middle left)
Director of the Denver Rescue Mission, Lawrence Street Shelter
Jenny Whitcher, (far right) Public Relations Coordinator
6
Douglas Co Human Services
Castle Rock, CO
In December, 2006, we delivered 18 quilts for children in Castle Rock at theDouglas County Human Services.
The case worker, Margaret Elliott & her boss gladly accepted them and will give them to the children that
come through their child protective services department.
L-R-Dusty Darrah (FHQ), Margaret Elliott
(case worker) & her boss Thank you cards
Douglas County Women’s Crisis & Family Outreach Center As you can see, our quilts are now on the beds at our new women’s shelter in Douglas County. Our focus is still on children and Colorado Fire Depts. However, whenever we complete twin quilts, we will help replenish the ones used at the new Douglas County Women’s Crisis Center, I’d like to donate any twins and/or double-sized quilts we make in our own county whenever possible. |
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Already I received a ‘thank you’ message from one of the young mothers at the shelter; I could hear a young baby crying in the background: “I just wanted to thank your group for the beautiful quilt at the shelter. It kept my baby and me warm and comfortable last night. It is beautiful, thank you.” |
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We know how much good our quilts do and how comforting they are, especially in situations like this. It’s a good place to send our twin and double-sized quilts. |
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Thornton, CO
The children in this program are under the age of 10 & have Leigh’s disease or some other Mitochondrial/ Metabolic disorders that severely limit their life span. Each of the children in Eli’s Angels group received a FHQ snuggle quilt for their birthday this year. Periodically, as we receive thank you notes from the kids' parents, we'll post them here.
(L-R) Vicky Reed, Mary Peterson, Ann Kurtz (founder of Eli’s Angels),
Dusty Darrah, Barbara McCrorie, Cathy Owen, Susan Howarth,
Ellen Palmer & Jane Layng are the volunteers pictured here.
Denver Health Delivery, Tour and Baby Bag Assembly
(L-R) Alma Lee, Roberta Wheeler, Joyce Steed, Pat White, Barbara McCrorie, Dusty Darrah (floor) Jacque Schneider, Sara Van Horne, Lynn Emch and Colleen Viet. (not pictured: Alice Zmijewski and Sherri Mayne)
What fun we had at Denver Health this month! We’ve been looking forward to this trip for months and were even able to make a quilt delivery while we were there. On Dec. 12, 2011, they received 27 snuggle quilts, 20 afghans (both baby and lap size), 1 stuff animal, 41 crocheted baby hats and we also brought the Christmas Stockings (from the Latter Day Saints gals). Joyce brought a set of yellow baby afghan, hat and booties she just finished too! Cute.
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In the hospital tour, Robin Engleberg gave us a nice history lesson about the hospital and its transition from Denver General many years ago. It’s beautiful inside and the new mothers all have the same facilities available to them, whether a refugee from Somalia or our local Mayor’s wife. We delivered one of the Baby Bags to a mom being discharged that day and got to hold her new baby too. What a treat! Then back to the basement to work on the Baby Bags. |
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When we first arrived, the donated quilts and blankies were all jumbled up and shoved back into the shelving. Robin asked a couple of us to stay and straighten them out while the rest of us took the tour so everything would be ready to choose from when we started to assemble the bags. Sherri and Alice stayed & accomplished that task - - wow! What a transformation! Good job, girls! |
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We began to assemble the Baby Bags (blue for boys, pink for girls) and soon ranout of lotion, shampoo and diapers. That’s when we got the idea for a quick, last minute ‘baby’ donation drive at Sew Day that week and delivered some more baby supplies before Christmas. With only two days notice, FHQ volunteers came through again for Denver Health. (oh, I wish I had a picture of this packed car!) Here’s what Rena Brunner took down to Denver Health after Sew Day (Dec 15): 4 stuffed animals, 27 Burp Cloths, 195 Crocheted hats, 57 Pillowcases, 34 clothing, 17 Lotions/Shampoos, 18 pkg. wipes, 16 pkg. diapers, 12 bibs, 1 teething ring & 1 sippy cup. This will fill their shelves in the Baby Room again for awhile but they deliver almost 4,000 babies a year and each one gets a Baby Bag so if you have any new baby items throughout the year, bring it to Sew Day and we’ll get it down there for them to use.
Thank you all ONCE AGAIN for your warm and generous hearts!
Firehouse Quilts volunteers ROCK!!!
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A note of thanks from Robin Engleberg, our contact at Denver Health. |
What a beautiful story about your visit to Denver Health! When I count my blessings for the past year, Firehouse Quilts is high among them. We are so grateful for everything you have done to keep our babies warm this winter. It means the world to us. Thanks for your continued support and good wishes for the New Year.
Robin Engleberg Denver Health Foundation |
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Denver Health Medical Center
Denver, CO
Denver Health Medical Center employees pictured here
with FHQ Lucy Letellier & Dusty Darrah at
one of our deliveries for their ‘baby bags’.
The hospital gives each new mother a ‘baby bag’
filled with diapers, powder, booties
and one of our snuggle quilts.
See the little booties Lucy Letellier made
out of fleece?
Helping Newborns at Denver Health Medical Ctr.
A few months ago, I heard the volunteers at the hospital send the newborns home with a gift bag
full of items for the new mothers brand new baby.
The items they needed the most were quilts!
Since we had some extra snuggle quilts and fleece blankies in the storage bins,
I delivered some to the hospital so they could be included in the gift bags too.
As Ruth & her volunteers started opening the delivery bags,
I heard several excited gasps. They were appreciated so much!
Amanda says it’s possible that some of our quilts will also be used
in the Premie Ward to help keep the new arrivals warm.
9
Father Judy’s House
Ft Logan, CO
Barbara McCrorie set up this deliver and we took 40 quilts
to the Father Ed Judy House that helps children in the Ft Logan area. They were very happy to receive them and
promised to put them to good use.
Barbara McCrorie, Dusty Darrah & Ft Luptons representative
10
Guadalupe Project Receives 10 Quilts
As you may notice, we not only donate quilts to Colorado Fire Departments but also to other non-emergency organizations in our state that help children in crisis. The Guadalupe Project in Denver is one that we replenish quilts for the therapists working with children.
Here’s a note of thanks from them. “I would like to heartily thank all the dedicated volunteers who have made & graciously donated their exquisite quilts. The workmanship is amazing! I am an in-home family therapist for the Guadalupe Project in Denver County and through your kindness, I am able to provide quilts to the children I work with. Not only do they truly adore them, but they occasionally fight over them. (It helps to give each child in a sibling group their own individual quilt-- indeed, sharing does not work. Ha!) I was recently provided with a new batch of 10 quilts and am looking forward to a new distribution to more kids. Thanks for making a small corner of their world beautiful, secure, and warm.” Regards, Jamie Miller, MA - The Guadalupe Project |
11
Colorado Rett Syndrome
Denver, CO
Judi Masters, an employee of Action Care, has a 2½ year old granddaughter, Katelyn,
that has Rett Syndrome. These children are born apparently ‘normal’ but soon things start to happen;
loss of speech and/or walking skills are among the biggest symptoms that are noticed and so hard to diagnose.
There are about 20 girls in their group & they had a kick-off lunch June 2 to plan
their fund raising Stroll A Thon for Aug 11, 2007. (same time as our Quilt Show.)
Since we weren't available ‘then’ to give them quilts, I delivered about 20 ‘girl-y’ quilts to Judi
for them in April so each one of them could have one of the quilts in the strollers with them
during their Stroll A Thon.
Visit their website corettsyndrome.org for additional information.
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| Shiloh House Received 211 FHQuilts in Time for Christmas |
L-R: Judy Rosich, Evelyn Kriek, Lisa Newberry, Rev Martino, Dusty Darrah, |
Wow, when I ask for help with a delivery at the last minute, offers start pouring in! I’m so proud of these gals that dropped what they had going just before the holidays, to deliver 5 carloads of snuggle quilts to Shiloh House in time for Christmas. We just heard about Shiloh House in December; they have several facilities all over the metro area but 2 or 3 family homes in which they rescue children from abuse and/or abandonment are in the Littleton area. Within days, sometimes hours of a child's removal from their home, an administrator tries to ‘place’ the children within their own extended family but away from their abuser. If that’s not possible, other foster opportunities may be available to them as they wait in the homes/facilities of the Shiloh House and are kept in school and counseled in-house. Many of them have nothing when they are taken from their homes. When we heard they had 125 children (plus 4 more from one family on the day we delivered) in their facilities, I just knew these kids were in the middle of ‘another kind’ of crisis and that our quilts would bring a smile to their little faces.
Shiloh House had received many, many donations from local churches and the community to be given to the children for Christmas presents. They had very little help and were in a desperate situation with only a few days before Christmas and all these gifts had to be wrapped and delivered to all their facilities. Rev. Martino was planning on being there to get it done UNTIL! That was going to be a lot of long, hard hours. I put the word out to over 200 FHQ volunteers and before he knew it, he had smiling elves streaming into their building, bursting with energy, ready to go to work.
The presents were wrapped and ready for delivery in half the time he had allotted and the children had a very nice Christmas. Many times, I receive comments from our volunteers that make our deliveries without even asking for it. They are so touched by what they see and hear about on our deliveries, they need to share it with others. To all you FHQ elves that were able to swoop in on this great organization and take care of a huge task for them, thank you so much! Dusty Darrah When the dust cleared, Rev Martino sent a thank you note: I hope that you had a wonderful holiday! The quilts were a big hit and I cannot tell you how impressed I am with all of the Firehouse Quilters that came out in full force to help with wrapping Christmas presents for the kids. We could not have gotten it done so quickly without their help! Thank you again for your generosity and your support of Shiloh House. Warm regards, Rev James Martino |
13
Larimer County Department of Human Services
Children, Youth & Family Division
in Fort Collins, CO.
(Pictured L-R) Dusty Darrah (FHQ), Christina Ulrich-Jones (Dept of Human Services),
Jane Layng (FHQ), Joanne Murphy (Dept of Human Services),
Jacque Schneider (FHQ) & Mary Peterson (FHQ)
Soon after we delivered 65 snuggle quilts to Department of Human Services in Fort Collins,
we received a nice note letting us know how the distribution to the children went.
"I wanted to tell you that all the quilts were grabbed quickly by case workers today!
They took them to their most needy families along with the Christmas Gifts for the kids.
I will send you some tidbits when I hear some stories.
The one that I do know about is a 16 year old girl who grew up in the Foster Care system
due to severe abuse and mental illness issues...she will be getting a cuddle quilt
and a teddy bear and her case worker was thrilled with the choice of colors!
We put it around the big giant Bear in the big giant gift bag. I know she will love it."
Thanks again,
Christina
"Volunteering is Good for the Heart"
In August, 2008, we received a note from Kacy, one of their caseworkers,
about a little girl she had given one of our quilts to. She said "I thought you may want to
pass this on to whoever makes the blankets. I was able to take a blanket to a little girl this weekend. She was so thrilled she dragged me into her bedroom and showed me how she was going to put it on her bed. While I was interviewing her she kept stroking the blanket with her fingers while talking. She seemed to be very excited about her new blanket!
14
House of Hope (Family Tree)
Arvada, CO
This organization offers a home to ‘head of household’
women with children that need a ‘hand up’.
Since the residents may not have the money to buy
their children a Christmas gift, we told Lindsay to
use our quilts as their gifts. She just beamed!
We've already received a thank you card
from their director.
Karen Schlegel & Lindsay from House of Hope
15
Littleton Hospital
Littleton, CO
We delivered 75 snuggle quilts to the After Hours & Pediatrics departments
at the Littleton Hospital.
Here's a Thank You card from their staff.
Hi ! ! Thank you so much for all of the beautiful quilts.
We have taken delight in giving them out and they have been received with glee and appreciation.
Thank you for your hard work and generosity.
Sincerely,
The Staff at Littleton Children’s After Hours unit
16
Jeffco Children's Alliance
Lakewood, CO
Sue King delivered 26 snuggle quilts to the Jeffco Children’s Alliance.
Here's a thank you we received from them afterwards.
We appreciate you thinking of the child victims of abuse we serve. Our children leave after a medical exam or forensic interview clutching in their little hands either a stuffed animal or a quilt (or both) and we see the exact same security animal or quilt in court when they have to testify and in any follow up interviews.
They really bond with a security item and Mom's tell us that they even have to sneak around and clean the security item
after the child falls asleep as they won't let loose of them for months at a time. So your love and care in making these quilts is profoundly appreciated!
17
Quilts of Fish & Butterflies
Rarely do the volunteers of Firehouse Quilts get the honor of participating
in the actual delivery of our snuggle quilts to the children themselves.
This delivery to Tanner & Nick Wilmer was exceptional.
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(Pictured L-R)
Barbara Dean, Dusty Darrah, Jacque Schneider, Nick Wilmer & Tanner Wilmer (front) |
Tanner (seated in front) will have brain surgery in California around Christmas this year,
to help control his seizures.
We wanted to give him a unique lap quilt to use with his wheelchair and to have with him
in the hospital after surgery. We chose a bright & cheery quilt with fun little fish swimming on it.
Tanner, 12 years old, has had problems similar to Epilepsy since birth. Doctors say they've never seen
a disease or problem like this before so he hasn't ever been formally diagnosed.
We printed his picture onto a fabric label for the back of his quilt
with good wishes from Firehouse Quilts for his surgery.
Fabric Quilt Label on the back of Tanner's quilt. |
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Tanner’s brother, 9 year old Nick, hopes to accompany him from Parker, Colorado to California with their parents.
We wanted to make sure Nick felt very special too and hand-picked this pretty butterfly snuggle quilt for him.
His eyes really lit up when he saw the other bugs
in the borders of the quilt.
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Nick, inspecting his butterfly quilt, looking for more bugs. |
Both boys were so thrilled with their quilts, they slept with them
the very first night after we delivered them.
Their mom, Kris, was delighted to see the boys so happy and that each had their own quilt.
What a wonderful family!
Kris Wilmer, mom |
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Soon . . . . we received a thank you note from Kris & the boys.
We received another heartwarming note from Kris the day after our delivery about a local hospital trip.
Victim Advocates
Highlands Ranch, CO.
