Labor of love for seniors

Quilts benefit Children's Place

February 2. 2007

By SHARON G. McBRIDE/Frontiersman

WASILLA - As they piece together bright quilts, two local senior citizens hope to bring a bright spot and wrap a little comfort around children in the community who really need it.

Elverda Lincoln said she has been making quilts for friends and family all her life, but never has gotten as much gratification from making them until now.

&#8220I get so much satisfaction from knowing that my quilts are going to children who need them,” she said.

Lincoln now donates her quilts to The Children's Place, a nonprofit child and family advocacy agency in Wasilla. &#8220It also makes me feel useful.”

Lincoln shared her knowledge of quilting - and her willingness to donate handmade happiness to children - with her friend, Lennea Lindon. Both live in apartments near the Wasilla Senior Center.

&#8220I needed something to keep me busy in the winter time,” said Lindon, who started quilting two years ago. &#8220And I knew I wanted to help somewhere in the community, but I didn't know how, when or where. Making quilts for the children who come into The Children's Place was exactly what I was looking for.”

The Children's Place, which opened in 1999, provides multiple children's advocacy services to abused kids and their families.

&#8220The purpose of the agency is to provide a child-friendly, neutral facility where professionals from many agencies involved in the evaluation, investigation and treatment of child abuse meet to coordinate and brings their services to children and their families,” said Jen Downey, executive director of The Children's Place.

The quilts are a bonus.

&#8220Each child that comes in is allowed to pick out a quilt,” Lincoln said. &#8220It becomes something that's exclusively theirs, something that provides them comfort when their world has turned upside down.”

Some children go to The Children's Place with nothing because of the circumstances surrounding their situation, Downey said. &#8220So a donated quilt might be they only thing they can take with them.”

The two seniors make three to four quilts a month of all sizes and colors to donate to the organization. Kitty cats, flowers, cars, whales - you name it, their quilts have it.

On average, they said, it takes four to five hours to make one quilt. The smaller ones can fit into cribs, while the larger ones can fit a single bed.

Every quilt finds a home. Last year alone, The Children's Place helped 144 kids, Downey said. Last September was a significant benchmark, where 1,000 children received help and a quilt.

For more information or to donate, interested persons can go online at www.thechildrens-place.org.

Contact Sharon G. McBride at 352-2522 or sharon.mcbride@ frontiersman.com.