The Ripple of Giving by Kristie J. Smith
Have you ever thought about the ripple effect of giving? The gift of a kind word or action, a physical gift, or even a smile can have a chain reaction on others. Quilters are the ultimate example of givers… they create from their hearts and gift their love through quilts and other handmade projects. These handmade gifts are useful but also evoke a sense of love and fond memories. These items become heirlooms that can be passed on to others to provide a ripple of love.
From time to time, FreeSpirit has sample quilts that are no longer in use for marketing purposes. These quilts are expertly made with our designer fabrics. In considering what to do with these quilts, it was important to us to give back to the community…to find a place for these beautiful quilts to be used to bring comfort, joy, and love. There are many worthy charities, but the Ronald McDonald House Charities® in Charlotte was a natural fit for our donation.
The Ronald McDonald House Charities® is a national organization that provides comfort, lodging, food, and support for families with sick children undergoing treatments in local children’s hospitals. This allows a place of solace to rest between appointments and families to be in close proximity to the healthcare centers. From a parent that we interviewed -“The Ronald McDonald House was a blessing to our family. It provided a safe haven for us to stay while my child was undergoing cancer treatments. All the families were going through similar struggles. If I just needed to talk, there were people who understood. We are grateful for all the care they showed our family.”
FreeSpirit recently donated quilts to the Ronald McDonald House in Charlotte, NC. During the donation trip, we learned more about the richness of the organization and how they abundantly meet the needs of these families. For example, before the arrival of the families at the Ronald McDonald House, each room is set up for the individual family’s needs. A special blanket or quilt is on their bed. The blanket or quilt then belongs to the child; they often take the blanket or quilt with them to treatments for comfort and security. Long after the stay at Ronald McDonald House, these items remain a precious symbol of love for both the parents and children.
Donating quilts to charities is such a lovely way to express support for others. It is a chance to positively impact someone that you may not even know and provide comfort for someone that is going through something difficult. If you don’t have a current charity to support, I encourage you to find a place to contribute your talents and gifts. A simple act of kindness can ripple farther than you could even imagine.
To learn more about Ronald McDonald Charities®, visit https://rmhc.org/.
https://freespiritfabrics.com/
11 Comments
Leela
Dear Scott,
I really appreciate your kind attitude in helping charities and distributing quilts to needy people. Yes, you
are right helping the needy is absolutely fantastic. Keep up your work. I wish other people have to learn
from you. God Bless you and your family for the good work you are doing.
regards
Sherri Huff
Scott,
What a beautiful and thorough provoking post. Giving is the best gift ever! The giver is the one who benefits 10 fold…that feeling of helping others is priceless to me. I make and donate to our local Foster kids, makes my heart happy that I can spread so love to others! ?
Shelia Frederiksen
I was blessed to be able to volunteer for the “Gift room” at the Charlotte RMH – BC (before COVID). Each family has a scheduled time where they could pick out gifts for each family members and have them wrapped. What fun it was to assist the children to pick out presents for the siblings and parents.
It was a wonderful experience and I would encourage anyone with free time to volunteer.
Nancy Burns
Using our talents to give back to the community is so important. I have devoted my quilting to the Quilts of Valor Foundation for 8 years of my retirement. My group, Old Saybrook Piecemakers, Clinton CT, have honored over 525 Veterans and those currently serving our country to date. Jaftex support to sewists and communities is a generous gift to all our volunteers around the world. Thank you.
Nancy Burns
Laura Greenfelder
Thank you for donating to RMH, our best friends lived in one in Michigan for months, due to a sick child. It saved them financially and connected them with life-long friends.
Creative Passions works hand-in-hand with our local schools to make sure every child in the elementary school receives a reading pillow, made buy our local sewers, with a book in the pocket, funded by donations. This year we made small cinch sacks for each student in middle and high school, which included toiletries for the summer and an age-appropriate book. We also use donated fabrics for pillowcase kits to be made by our Retreat guests. I fully believe that quilters are going to save the world.
Becky Petersen
Great job – good post.
Giving is good for the giver – there is nothing that makes one feel better than giving something of value to someone else. Often we think the other way around (receiving is more fun), but it’s not true. You feel lighter, happier and more interested in those to whom you give.
Maree Whitley
What a wonderful and thoughtful thing to do! May we all be more generous and kind. Thank you all so very much.
Brenda D Buddenhagen
Our Guild does Christmas Stocking for Ronald Mcdonald houses every year. They put one on every door of family staying there during Christmas. We are up to 80 stockings for all of them in our area. It is a really fun sew day for our quild. We use childrens fun christmas fabrics. Nothing like poinsettas or more traditional. Happy childrens fabrics. Some people make them up during the year or wait for our sew day!!!!!
It is such a great charity project. They always send such a nice thank you!!
Rosemary Allen
My daughter’s family was able to stay at the Ronald Mcdonald house in Charlotte while my granddaughter was at Levine in Charlotte for a month. They were such a blessing to us during that time.
Lisa England
I enjoyed reading this uplifting post. We all like a reminder of how we can and do make a difference, by gifting quilts and/or by other acts of kindness. I like that Jaftex sees these acts of kindness as an important thing for companies, as well as individuals, to do. Thanks Scott and all the Jaftex family!
Katie Wyatt
This is a very thought provoking post. Thank you for that. I believe all it takes is one kind gesture … a word, a smile, a quilt … that can make all the difference in the world to a child facing difficult times. A simple act can change a bad day into not such a bad day for those children and families facing illness. I applaude you for picking The Ronald McDonald to be the receipant of those quilts. We are both changing the world one quilt at a time.