Happy Labor Day to all our volunteers, to all our friends working at our blanket drop-off locations, and to all those who work at our recipient agencies! We so appreciate you and the labor of love you provide for our kids. We want to take this opportunity to highlight some of our volunteers who don’t get coverage at our quilting bees.
In December of 2024, our Distribution Team received a generous donation made by Jennifer Coughenour and Pat Andrews. These sweet ladies donated 45 lovely quilts.
In January of 2025, Sylvia Saffell visited with the Golden Vista Sewing Club after their Sew A Smile day in Apache Junction. To the right, you’ll see their beautiful smiles with their beautiful piles of 44 quilts. They donated another 37 blankets in March. Thank you Golden Vista!
On Sunday, March 2nd, the Sun Valley Piecemakers had their annual quilt show. They have been donating to AZ Blankets 4 Kids for over 20 years! This year they made just over 100 quilts for our kiddos. Special shout out to Sue Ulmer, seated and wearing a blue AZB4K quilted bear shirt. Sun Valley Sue sews about 99% of their tops and has been doing so since they began making blankets for our kids. She was presented with a gift card to have her sewing machine serviced at Mulqueen’s in Mesa. Thank you Sue and Sun Valley!
On Monday, March 3rd, we joined friends at The Resort RV Park in Mesa in their Studio 55 room for a Mini Bee. There were 23 attendees from The Resort and 7 AZ Blankets 4 Kids visitors. They provided a nice luncheon for us with morning and afternoon goodies. The winner of Letty’s lovely gift basket was Joan Cooper (left) and presented by our Allie Watkins (right). Thank you for hosting us for a sweet day of quilting for our kids.
On Monday, March 10th, we joined friends in Queen Valley for a Mini Bee. We were small but mighty! We had 14 Queen Valley quilters, two board members (Nancy and Janice) and two super volunteers: Allie Watkins and Barb Hopkins. Lunch was delicious! 27 quilts walked in the door, and another 9 were finished during the bee for a total of 36!
On April 16, Sylvia Saffell received a phone call from Quilter’s Oasis and learned there were 23 lovely quilts to pick up. Sylvia was nearby, so she got to the shop in time to meet Gail Elliott, a quilter from Pine Top. Gail donated the blankets, but she didn’t know where they were going, only that she wanted them to go to children. Sylvia told her about AZB4K, gave her several brochures and also gave her 25 labels since Gail planned on making more. And just like that, we have a new AZ Blankets 4 Kids friend.
This last volunteer spotlight is in no particular chronological order, because she is constantly bringing donations for us, to Sweet Pz quilt shop, in Gilbert. We even have a big blue tote bag that we trade back and forth each month. Cindy Schorr, and friends from Superstition Mountain Resort, put together fun quilts from scrap stashes that seem to be never ending. Thank you, Cindy, for your kindness, creativity and continuous labor of love.
A huge THANK YOU to all the wonderful volunteers who continue to keep the children wrapped in love in the form of a handmade blanket! Without all of you, we could not do what we do for the past 24 years!
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