Between February 2004, when the Community Services committee was officially formed, and June 2008 the Village Quilters have distributed over 1000 quilts to many, many charitable organizations. But in its early years the Guild supported just one charity organization each year. In 2002 the Guild decided to support the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. One of our members had just been diagnosed with breast cancer and it seemed appropriate to create a great quilt to help raise funds for this very worthy charity. The Village Quilters raised more than $2700 for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. On behalf of the Foundation, Guild members Theresa Beyer and Carol Williams accepted the check from Marilynn Rambo.

“I think it was a great idea and Suzi Dale, the project Chairperson, shared the whole project with us all,” said past President Joan Francis. Francis also mentioned Marilynn Rambo, Carol Williams and Theresa Beyer as being “very instrumental in attending every function and soliciting the donations.” Joan Francis shared the fact that McCall’s magazine sponsored this particular charity and had a selection of fabrics called the “ Healing Garden” fabrics which represent flowers, plants or trees whose chemical properties are used in the development of chemotherapy and cancer prevention drugs. The quilt was aptly named the “Quilt for a Cure.”

T he blocks are a heart pattern and were paper pieced with an appliquéd border. Many Guild m embers participated by diligently piecing the 80 heart blocks together and then working on the beautiful vine and flower border. At the December Guild meeting, Village quilter and Friends of the Library Board President Donna Compton was “totally flabbergasted to have won” when she was announced as the quilt recipient. “I felt honored—it’s a beautiful piece of work. We all know someone who’s had breast cancer. It’s a very good cause and I’m happy that the group was able to raise the amount of money they did and was able to share in the opportunity to own the quilt.” Since the quilt’s colors are quite bright, Compton said she planned to decorate a room around it.

In January 2003 we received a wonderful letter from Myra Biblowit, President of The Breast Cancer Research Foundation in New York. The letter was an appreciative, heartfelt thank you from her and Evelyn Lauder, on behalf of the Foundation, for our donation of $2706.16. Our contribution went toward the $11.2 million in new grants the Foundation awarded that year. What a tremendous service effort our quilters achieved through their love of quilting!