The Stella Lutheran Church members create 60 quilts each year. (Left to right) Barbara Stuart, Gaye Richards, Mara Williams, Lauri Koehler, Delores Snider, Laura McCartney, and Peggy Zimmerman. (Not pictured: Mary Lee Sullivan)
As the weather turned wet and cold, many responded to recent call for blankets to give out to homeless and low income families.
Among the donations were a number of beautiful quilts created by a group of ladies from Stella Lutheran Church.
For over 50 years, this group has been providing quilts to the homeless and the needy here in SW Washington, as well around the world. One of them, Gaye Richards, is an original member of the group.
Stella Lutheran Church
The women come together once a week, for fellowship as much as to work on their quilts. “It’s great therapy,” said member Delores Snider.
They create an average of 60 quilts each year. In addition to Help Warehouse, they have donated quilts to the Emergency Support Shelter and Community House, as well as to local families who have been burned out of their homes.
Of those 60 quilts, 45 are given to Lutheran World Relief to distribute to people around the world. Their quilts have reached people in Africa and South America. “Sometimes the quilts are used as tents or roofs for people without homes,” said Delores.
The original group was producing quilts even before Stella Lutheran Church was built in 1976. The church of 70-80 members sits in a lovely wooded setting off Germany Creek Road.
Our sincere thanks to these women for the gifts of warmth and beauty that they produce from their “therapy sessions.”
