A Quilt for the Community

"To the hands that made this bird quilt and to the kind donator and everyone who participated in this raffle with the intent of supporting fire survivors, thank you from the bottom of my heart. It will hang in the stairwell of the home I am rebuilding. Thank you so much (I am a bird lover!)."

Those are the words of Lesa Henson, a Holiday Farm Fire survivor who received a very special gift in time for the holidays last year.

That gift - a hand-made quilt featuring all 50 state birds – was the result of collaboration and acts of kindness by many individuals in the #McKenzieStrong community. From the ladies who painstakingly embroidered and sewed the quilt, those who helped to organize and promote the raffle, the people who bought tickets, to the winner who wanted to donate her prize to a fire survivor. This is their story.

Back in October 2021, MCDC volunteer Mary Sooh was contacted by the "Sew and Sews" – a group of women who get together at the Walterville church to sew their projects, help one another, and socialize. Three of its members, Rita Stadel, Marian Alter, and Ellen Johnson had collaborated to make a beautiful quilt, which they wanted to donate so that it could benefit the survivors of the Holiday Farm Fire.