Community Service
Quilts Donated in 2023-2024
Quilters are wonderful at giving their talents to help others. The Quilter’s Guild of Dallas offers ways for you to use your quilt skills to help others through our Covers for Kids Program.
Covers for Kids
Many of our Guild members generously give their time and skills making quilts for the Covers for Kids program. CFK seeks to provide children in difficult circumstances with a warm quilt of their very own. Last year quilts were given to the Ronald McDonald House, the Dallas Children’s Advocacy Center, and the Vogel Alcove.
Completed quilts are accepted at our monthly meetings and then delivered to each organization. Making a CFK quilt is a good way to use leftover blocks or try new techniques. It’s not necessary to make an entire quilt as our volunteers can also use blocks and quilt tops. In addition, kits are usually available at Guild meetings for those who would like them.
The first question is always “What size should I make?” We need quilts in all sizes, from crib or nap quilt size up to twin bed size. Colorful fabrics and novelty prints are best, but all cotton fabrics are acceptable. Christmas themed quilts are always needed for the holidays, and can be donated year round.
Covers for Kids Workdays
Prior to COVID, Covers for Kids workdays were scheduled each month for members to finish making quilts out of donated tops and fabric. We’re slowly getting the workdays up and running again, but not on a consistent timeframe. Keep your eyes open for meeting announcements and newsletter notifications about future workdays. We need help sewing on borders, piecing tops and backs, quilting the quilt, and sewing on binding. We also need people who are willing to iron fabric to be cut. Bring your sewing machine and basic sewing supplies. You’ll leave knowing you’ve helped a child or teen have a brighter tomorrow. Email us to be added to the CFK workday email list or see us at the Covers for Kids table at the Guild meeting.
Organizations Supported by Our Guild
Ronald McDonald House
The Ronald McDonald House serves as a “home away from home” for families of seriously ill children who are hospitalized or receiving treatment in Dallas area hospitals. Many of these children are having transplants or cancer treatment that requires their families to stay in the house for an extended period of time. Upon arrival, the children receive a quilt. They get to keep this quilt as a remembrance of their stay at the house.
Vogel Alcove
Vogel Alcove is a day-care center for children of homeless families. While parents are either getting an education, getting a job, or getting started at a new job, their children are taken care of for them at the Vogel Alcove. It’s run like any other children’s day-care center with regular hours and classrooms. The only difference is that the children have no home to go to in the evenings. Most of the children are housed in one of our local shelters with their parents.
The ages of the children in the center range from birth to 6 years old (when they would be going to elementary school). The center gives this care for free to parents who qualify for assistance. Most of these children come in the door with nothing. They are given a quilt on their first day in the center, and sleep with it every day at nap time. When they go on to another day-care or school, which means they will no longer be coming to the Alcove, they’re given the quilt to take with them. This becomes a great memory maker for them, and in most cases it’s the only thing they can call their own.
Dallas Children’s Advocacy Center
The mission of Dallas Children’s Advocacy Center is to improve the lives of abused or neglected children in Dallas County and to provide national leadership on child abuse issues. The center is designed to provide each child with a friendly, non-threatening environment that offers support and protection in one central location. Housed in their offices are the Dallas Police Department and Dallas County Social Services, as well as investigators and therapists to aid the children.
The young victims of sexual and physical abuse can tell their painful stories just once and then the child can be spared of having to repeat their “pain” again. The professional expertise of the staff at the center brings a more complete understanding of individual issues for each abused child. Many times these children have been brought in in the middle of the night with nothing but the clothes on their backs. They’re given a backpack with toiletries and a change of clothing as many are not returned to their homes and are ultimately put in foster care. Some of the children also receive a quilt provided by our project.