September 14, 2024 – sunny – ☀️ 99°
This Bonus Bee brought us together with old friends and new. JustServe.org pairs local service opportunities with people who want to serve. On this day, several events took place throughout the Valley as a 9/11 Day of Service. Many of the volunteers who joined us that day had also attended some of the other events. It was wonderful to have a room full of experienced quilters working alongside eager young ladies and men. Everyone was willing to learn and pitched in to cut, tie, sew, layer, press, pin, fold and haul. We had approximately 70 volunteers, including 11 board members.
Our hosts provided a delicious lunch to refuel us for the second half of the day. We had sandwiches, pickles, fruit, chips, cookies and drinks all provided at no cost to our volunteers. Speaking of free, there were so many goodies for giveaway; from fabric and lace to tools, templates and books, it was a treasure trove worth diving into. We also had our fantastic fat quarters for only 50 cents as well as a silent auction of Halloween placemats.
Sweet Shirley Briggs won the glorious gift basket made by our lovely Letty Fowell. Kathy Guard, from Palmas del Sol, won $50 in the 50/50 raffle. We typically give the other half of the 50/50 to our hosts, but they kindly gifted it back to AZ Blankets 4 Kids. Denise Bell, from Palmas del Sol, won the placemat set in the silent auction. Congratulations to all our winners and a special thanks to Karen Brimhall for her kind donation of a $100 gift card to JoAnn’s.
We will post our future Bees on JustServe.org with the hopes that we’ll meet again or for the first time. We love our long time volunteers, but it was really wonderful to have youthful energy interested in learning about our love of quilting and our dedication to providing a little comfort, in the form of a blanket, to a child in crisis. Joint us next time at Palmas del Sol for their Soup-er Bee on Saturday, October 26.
Bee by the Numbers:
11 blankets collected at the door
39 blankets finished at the Bee
50 total blankets ready to wrap our kids in comfort
What a fun event. Thank you for sharing the pictures. It made me feel I was there with you all. See you soon!