Quilts help keep the world warm

PALMER -- The pews of St. John Lutheran Church are decorated with bright quilts this week, as 142 of them are draped on the backs, providing a comfortable place to sit. Next week, those quilts will be sharing comfort of a different sort, however.

The quilts, all made by several women from the congregation using donated material, will be mailed to the Lutheran World Relief organization, and from there, they will be distributed around the world to those in need, regardless of religion.

"Maybe somebody physically needs a blanket to keep them warm at night, or maybe they just need the comfort of knowing somebody cares for them," said the Rev. Jonathan Rockey, pastor of St. John Lutheran Church. "It can provide a lot for somebody who needs it more than you and I."

Every Wednesday morning, from around 9:30 a.m. to noon, six to 10 women have been meeting to work on the quilts. It is a project that is taken up each year by Lutherans around the world, and here in the Valley.

"We have about eight of us who get together and quilt them," said Charlene Slezak, president of the Lutheran Women's Missionary League. "And we take the summers off, so 142 of them is pretty good. It's the most we've ever done. If it keeps somebody warm, it is all worth it."

In the past, quilts have been sent to all corners of the globe. Nationally, more than 2 million quilts have been shipped around the world in the last five years. Almost 700,000 have been shipped to people in Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan -- all countries experiencing civil unrest following the break-up of the former Soviet Union.

"I know one year they were sent to Kosovo, and another year they were sent to the Kurds who were being oppressed," Rockey said. "They go overseas, and some stay here at home. They are sent to where they are needed most."

The quilts at St. John Lutheran Church are being packed and shipped on Wednesday.

The eight women who did much of the quilting were Slezak, Norma Christiansen, Willie Pederson, Lenita Deda, Jean Pruitt, Gloria Okeson, Donna Herman and Louis Saunders.