Lutheran World Relief Quilters

Midvale’s LWR quilters meet the 1st, 3rd and 5th Tuesdays to make quilts to send to Lutheran World Relief. In addition to the quilts, the group gathers kits that LWR also distributes to underdeveloped, war-torn countries and areas of natural disasters for shelter and warmth. More information about LWR is available at www.lwr.org.

Donations of fabric and supplies are always welcome. And anyone can help - if you can tie a knot, you can make a quilt! Contact Karen Mandt for more information.

The Lutheran World Relief quilting project started following WWII, when American women in Lutheran congregations volunteered their time and sewing talent to respond to the need for blankets among the war’s survivors in Europe. Seven decades later, this mission is still going strong, only now the quilts are more likely to end up in the Middle East, Asia, Africa, South America or Micronesia. They are given to desperate families who have lost their household goods due to violence, flood, earthquake, or other calamity. Of all the many disaster relief agencies, only Lutherans distribute quilts.

Midvale quilters began in 1974, and since then 5,587 quilts have been sent. Every October boxes of quilts and kits are taken to the boxcar on Madison’s east side, along with items from other churches in southern Wisconsin. Quilts and kits travel by train to either Baltimore or Minneapolis, where the quilts are repacked into large bales, shrink wrapped in plastic, and sent by ship to foreign ports. The last leg of their journey is most likely by truck to the city or village awaiting their arrival. Lutheran World Relief requests a donation of $2.50/quilt to cover shipping, but they will deliver our quilts whether we cover this cost or not.

LWR distributes close to half a million quilts annually. According to the LWR Quilt project director, one third of those quilts are sewn in Wisconsin and Upper Michigan. Midvale ships over 100 quilts each year on average. The quilts are sent to help people all over the world to keep warm, for shelter and other functional uses. Midvale also prepares and sends over 100 personal care kits, several dozen baby care kits, and over 100 school kits each year.