This past Tuesday was the last service day until January 10th. Here are the statistics for our 2016 year of humanitarian service!
Approximately 3,000 service hours rendered by sisters in our stake. This includes hours spent on Tuesdays and hours spent by many sisters at home making quilt tops, pillow casing quilts, making hygiene kits, picking sheets, working on pinwheels and logos, assembling donor quilt kits, lending technical support and administrative support.
300 total quilts were completed and donated this year. Here is the break down: 247 quilts were made and donated to Harborview Critical Care Unit, members of our Stake, and members of our Auburn Community.
40 quilts were made and donated as Donor Quilts to Life Center NW. 10 heavy duty quilts were made specifically for the homeless and the veterans and donated to the Auburn Food Bank. 3 Queen size quilts were hand quilted this year and given away.
20 Plastic Bag mats were crocheted and donated to the Auburn Food Bank for the Homeless.
1,560 Hygiene Kits; donations collected and kits assembled and donated to the Auburn Food Bank on a weekly basis.
40 pillow were made and stuffed and donated to the Auburn Food Bank for the homeless.
10 sisters took our basic sewing class and learned to sew this year!
We currently have 12-15 sisters working from home each week and most of them attend on Tuesdays as well....such dedication!
In March we hosted a Humanitarian Event in conjunction with the Women's Session of Conference. Many hygiene kits were made, quilts tied, cards made and Days for Girls kits were sewn by sisters in our stake, all in one hour and a half blitz before the session started!
This year we started our Facebook page and our Blog and we are associated with Just Serve!
We have 2 sisters from other stakes that come and help us on Tuesdays!
In addition to the many talents that are so willingly shared we have a number of sisters that can really bake and they share their baked goods with us each Tuesday! Not to mention our wonderful Potlucks! We've printed some of their recipes on our Blog!
We have 2 dedicated Priesthood brethren who set up our tables and chairs and provide support to us each week!
We currently have 22 women who are serving on the Humanitarian Committee and more being called to serve!
At the Ensign Choir concert at the Stake Center a few weeks ago, one of the choir members shared the story of her son who had a heart defect and passed away in April. They were able to donate his eyes so that another person could see. Her family received one of our Organ Donor Quilts. When we hear stories like that it is bittersweet. We are happy that the family received one of the quilts that we made and saddened for their loss. While we don't hear many stories of the families who receive our donor quilts, once in a while we do. It was gratifying to hear of a member of our church who received one of our quilts.
At our last meeting and potluck of 2016, we met Sarah from Duvall who volunteers at Life Center NW. Her son needed a new heart and received one because of Life Center NW. Her son is alive today because of the donation of a heart from a 5 year old girl. ( This was several years ago, before we started making quilts for them.) Sarah packages up the quilts and gets them ready for delivery. She noticed our tag sewn into each of our quilts and had to come and meet us all in Auburn. She shared her story and assured us that these quilts make all the difference to the families. How sweet it was to hear from her.
As we end our 5th year of our Humanitarian Project, we'd like to express our gratitude to all those who help us. If you come regularly or come occasionally, thank you! If you work from home, thank you! If you have donated money or goods to our effort, thank you! If you serve on our committee, thank you! Thank you to our Stake Presidency and Stake Relief Society Presidency who support us continually! Enjoy some rest and relaxation during the holidays and we'll see you back on Tuesday, January 10, 2017!
