Fallsnewspress.com - Group uses love as thread to spread warmth across globe

Special to Record Publishing Co. Pat Gray, left, of Cuyahoga Falls and Ginny Gorder of Streetsboro work on some of the quilts which will be sent across the world to help bring warmth to others.

by Tim Troglen

Reporter

Hudson -- Not every hobby can be turned into a gift of love.

But that is what's happening in a shop on Darrow Road twice a week around sewing machines and tables filled with thread, material and volunteers.

Tuesday is the day when a group of local quilters come together at Viking Sewing Gallery, 5381 Darrow Road, to craft quilts for those in need, including victims of Hurricane Katrina, the Haitian earthquake and Toledo tornado.

"We began quilting because we felt a need to make them for the people who were affected by Hurricane Katrina," said Sue Jerin, manager of the gallery, located inside Jo-Ann Fabrics and Crafts. "We sent out e-mails to our customers and let people who were in the store know what we were doing. We had a tremendous response by not only our customers but many other quilters in the area."

The idea to sew quilts for those in need has been "embraced by all of our staff members," said Jerin, who has been with the gallery for about six years.

"We do what we do because we love to help people," Jerin said.

And it's not just women who are helping, Jerin said.

"We have ladies as well as gentlemen learning to quilt," Jerin added. "We have all levels of expertise."

And they are looking for more help.

"It would be wonderful to have a few more people helping with the quilts, they can sew at home or here with us," Jerin said.

The group averages about five members per week, she said.

"We are not very big, but we have a big heart," Jerin said.

One of the quilters, Pat Gray of Cuyahoga Falls, has been quilting for about five years. And while she said the hobby is fun for the quilters, it's also "mind therapy" knowing they are helping out people who have little else.

"These people who are receiving these quilts have lost everything they have ever owned," Gray said. "And I believe in treating people the way I would like to be treated."

It's a nice feeling to know that people will have a clean, warm quilt to lay on, to cover up with or just to hold, Gray said.

She said it's important for the victims "just to know it's theirs and they can keep it."

"And it makes you look back on your own life and appreciate how lucky you are and the things that you have," Gray said.

The quilts are donated to the Mission of Love in Ravenna to be distributed to those in need, Jerin said.

Mission of Love collects medical supplies, clothing, building supplies and other humanitarian aid and sends it other countries and places like the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota and other disaster victims in the U.S.

What the quilters are doing "is truly a mission of love," according to Kathleen Price, founder and director for Mission of Love.

Members of the mission will hand deliver the quilts to Haiti, along with other supplies, Price said.

"Viking is our biggest responder in the whole country for quilts," Price said. "They have made hundreds and hundreds.

"Quilts from Hudson have been sent all over the world. And their unconditional love has gone many thousands of miles -- it is a pure love for mankind."

Mission of Love has delivered more than 38 million pounds of supplies to disaster ravaged areas since 1989. For more information on joining the quilting group, call Jerin at 330-656-5690. For more information on the Mission of Love or to make a donation, visit www.missionoflove.org or call 330-793-2248.

E-mail: ttroglen@recordpub.com

Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3146