Child sleeps soundly at hospital covered by a quilt made by Quilts for Kids.
by June Portnoy
When Yardley’s Linda Arye founded Quilts for Kids in 2000, she never expected her local nonprofit to grow into an international organization with hundreds of chapters nationwide, but that’s exactly what transpired.
It all started when Arye, an interior designer at the time, placed an order at a Philadelphia showroom. She was shocked to see industrial-sized trash bags filled with expensive discontinued fabrics being thrown out.
Knowing they would end up in landfills, ultimately polluting the environment, she asked to have some. She returned with her station wagon for five days to remove every bit of fabric. Linda has been known to literally do “dumpster divers for fabrics” on other occasions.
As Arye collected these fabrics having no idea what to do with them, she had what she called a “lightbulb moment”. She suddenly remembered a time when her very young daughter was hospitalized for a serious illness and wasn’t allowed to bring her favorite stuffed animal with her because of allergen issues. “So, I thought if I could take these fabrics and turn them into patchwork quilts that could go through a washer and dryer so there would be no allergen issues, someone else’s children could feel comforted by a quilt wrapped around them at a hospital when mine couldn’t,” explained Arye.
The only problem was that Arye didn’t know how to sew, so she recruited a quilter and her Aunt Barbara, a seamstress who took quilting classes and became a permanent volunteer. Before long Quilts for Kids was born.
Arye eventually recruited so many quilter volunteers that she was able to move her nonprofit from her home into her current 3,500-square-foot storefront in Falls Township.
According to Arye, there are only two rules when making quilts: “Have fun while making them and fill them with love because all the love shines through when you wrap them around a child.”
Arye has witnessed a hospitalized child magically stop crying in pain and then smile without the aid of medicine after receiving a quilt. “That’s the power of Quilts for Kids,” said Arye. “Children truly feel comforted by these quilts made with love.”
Quilts come in all colors and patterns so each child can select one that meets his/her interest. Today, this all-volunteer organization sends or delivers quilts to every children’s hospital in virtually every state in the US and beyond.
“We make tens of thousands of quilts a year,” said Arye. “It becomes almost like a big family gathering when we conduct our quilt-making workshops.”
Over the years, Quilts for Kids has expanded its mission to transforming fabrics into patchwork quilts to comfort children facing serious illnesses, trauma, abuse, poverty, or natural disasters.
Children in Haiti affected by the 2010 earthquake were wrapped in these quilts as were children recently hospitalized in Ukraine because of the war.
Quilts for Kids partners with other nonprofits like Habitat of America and United Way to serve as many children as possible in need of the comfort of a quilt. Quilts for Kids no longer receives donated fabrics from fabric companies, so it depends on donations from the public.
Its Fairless Hills shop, located at 494 Lincoln Highway, is open for fabric donations every day from 10 am till 2 pm. They also accept financial donations. One of this charity’s greatest needs is funding for shipping and for trucking companies that pick up donated fabric or batting shipments.
The Quilts for Kids shop will soon carry QT Fabrics’ Delightful Dreams Collections. Fifty percent of the proceeds will benefit Quilts for Kids. According to Arye, This is unheard of in the textile industry, and the charity is grateful that the funds from this line will enable Quilts for Kids to reach many more children in need.
This nonprofit also needs volunteers committed to putting all their love into these quilts. “These volunteers are my heroes, dedicating their time and talent to quilting, delivering or shipping these quilts to children all over the world,” said Arye.
For more information about Quilts for Kids, visit quiltsforkids.org.