Quilts for Kids Surorise
 

About 3 years ago I made a quilt for the Quilts for Kids organization. I thought of children in extreme health crises as I made it. Now I volunteer in a local hospital. I discharged an infant. On the wheelchair the mom placed a lap size quilt. I commented how nice the quilt was. Mom tells me that the nurse said they give a quilt to every child. As she showed me the quilt I looked on the back and there was a quilt for Kids label. This is not my understanding of the use of these quilts. Has something changed so that every hospitalized kid gets a quilt?

Rita

This is their mission statement, from the web site:
MISSION STATEMENT: Transforming discontinued, unwanted and other fabrics
into patchwork quilts that comfort children with life-threatening illnesses and
children of abuse.

you don't think it's a wonderful thing for every hospitalized child to receive a quilt?
i've been making Quilts for Kids for a number of years- 20-30 of them a year- and am so happy to be helping make sure there is a quilt for each child who winds up in the hospital --the hospital is a pretty scary place- especially for children and to give them such a gift always brings a smile to their faces- i try to remember teens need a little (cozy hug) too- when hospitalized so i make sure i make tween/teen quilts too not just quilts for little kids.

I make quilts for Project Linus and am delighted that a lot of them go to our local hospitals. The staff is delilghted when they see bags of them coming in because they know what a trauma it is for a child - teenager to be hospitalized regardless of whether it is a health crisis. Yes, we do try to make it possible for every hospitalized child to have a quilt.

Our Georgia Chapter of Quilts for Kids want to give to children battling illiness and have been abused. the Quilts are giving through hospitals and shelters. Quilts are also give to those who have lost parents in war from Fort Stewart while deployed.

The quilt you saw may have been giving to the hospital and they made the decision to give to all infants. Or maybe the new mother is a needy case. Never know but I am sure the gift quilt was appreciated.

do you know this family's circumstances? Maybe it was warranted, or the mother misspoke. I would be warmed to see the quilts in action ;-)

IMHO if the person/people at the hospital decides a child needs a quilt, that is a good enough reason to gift the quilt. A donation quilt is made to be donated, and I bet a child who receives a quilt is very happy to receive such a wonderful quilt.

I would think if a child is in the hospital it is sick! I see no reason to make a difference. Barny

It really is up to the hospital what they do with the quilts once they get them.

Was the baby a newborn? Is that the concern that the possibility of a sick/injured child not getting one because they've all been given to healthy babies? It could be size, many people don't make large quilts and the smaller ones could go to the babies. The hospital may be fortunate to receive many and have enough for every child no matter the reason they are hospitalized to have one.

What everyone has said is correct, about all kids deserving a quilt. However the original poster's question was based on her understanding of how this particular organization distributes its quilts. The stated mission of QFK is that the quilts go to kids who have life-threatening illnesses, or who have been abused. If this is not the case, the mission statement should be changed.

Thank you dunster for this clarification. I was beginning to feel like scrooge. I want everyone of any age to have a quilt but I was it was this organization's mission statement to donate to the gravely ill or abused.
Rita

Was the child in the NICU for any time or reason? I know our daughter was born at 29 weeks and we got a small blanket that a local group makes for NICU babies. We used it to cover her changing pad and now it is a play blanket...after almost 4 years, so it was appreicated and used.

But I do understand your questioning....maybe the hospital had an influx of quilts and could "afford" to give all babies one during that time.

As a hospital volunteer I am not at liberty to discuss any patient. I can say that babies are not born at my hospital and there is no Neonatal unit. We have a pediatric unit that serves infants to age 18. My point is only that quilts are given to any patient. Yes I know other patients have received quilts. I was just taken back by this use of QFK quilts given the mission statement.
Rita

I don't know how it works or if every hospital is the same. I do know that my daughter has been hospitalized a few times in the last year. She has gotten two crocheted blankets and a pillowcase. One of the volunteers that came in asked my daughter if she was an only child or if she had brothers and sisters. She told her she had one brother and one sister. They had little hand made bags with a small activity book and a few crayons and fleece blankets for them too. She said that they are all donated from a group of ladies to make sure all the kids there get something nice.
I am thinking each hospital has their own way of doing things. Maybe they have alot of quilts donated to the hospital you are volunteering at. I see your point though. They should change their statement.
As for my daughter, she has Crohns and we will never know how many times she will be hospitalized. Now we bring her "hospital quilt" and pillowcase so others can have them.

If the baby was not born in the hospital, then it was there because it was ill? If so isn't that a proper use for QFK? Children do not end up in the hospital because they are well. have you contacted your local QFK to ask them about it?

I've done QFK's as well. I believe their mission statement was the original basis for the organization. When I started doing quilts for them they were still operating out of the founder's home. They moved last year (I think) to a new facility. They are located near to me and I would drop off/pick up kits from the home. I can tell you that they were very blessed with the number of quilts that were being produced for them. Possibly their mission has expanded due to the volume of quilts they have been receiving, which is a wonderful thing.

NJ--that makes sense to me. Mission statement should be updated IMHO
Rita

I agree that the mission statement should be expanded. Having said that, every child who is in the hospital and the family are traumatized in some way. Their illness may not be life threatening, but being in the hospital is trauma enough. My DGS was in the hospital when he was 13 months old. For a week we thought (the doctors) that he had bone cancer. It turned out to be a broken leg. When he was discharged, we were all smiles, but that week was the most terrible week of our lives. I am a RN and I have seen many situations like that. Perhaps the hospital made the decision to give each child a quilt. I think that each family deserves something and once it is donated, it is up to the hospital how it is used. By the way my DGS is healthy and happy--thank the Lord. Another thought--once it is donated, it is up to the agency to decide what to do with it. If you don't approve, donate somewhere else. IMHO
Sue

Grandma58, I was thinking the same thing. I would rather see EACH child that's been in the hospital get a quilt, than have them pick which child has been "sick enough" to deserve one.
Susie- you are correct, hospitalization of a child takes a toll on everyone regardless of the severity of the situation. as a parent that has been in that situation more than once i can say any act of kindness during that time is greatly appreciated.(and any rude comment or slight is magnified)

Personally, I think they need to rethink the wording of their mission statement. As is, from the family perspective, the gifting of a quilt becomes a visible symbol of the gravity and seriousness of their child's condition -- probably not what is intended.

My youngest son is hospitalized frequently due to complications of his disability. We were offered a fleece blanket once (and accepted it gratefully) but most of the time the nurses see that he comes with quilts from home and probably doesn't "need" more. I do know that they frequently don't have "boy" quilts and larger sizes appropriate for a tween or teen. Everyone likes to donate the infant girly quilts.

RST

I think it's wonderful that they have enough quilts to give one to every child.

The Quilts for Kids mission statement has not changed. Yes, every child should have a quilt, but there is a finite number of quilts available, so our thought is that the children in the greatest need are at the front of the line. Having said that, we have no control over the manner in which the quilts are distributed once they leave QFK and arrive at a hospital, even though our policy is well known. In 2011 our wonderful volunteers enabled us to donate almost 13,000 quilts nationwide, and our 85 chapters across the country donated over 10,000. We are a small grass-roots organization and rely on donations and volunteers to comfort as many children as we can. With about a million children hospitalized in this country, obviously we can't reach every one. Please visit our website www.quiltsforkids.org to learn more, check out our Facebook page, and feel free to contact us with any questions.
Sincerely,
Pam Fox

I know this conversation really boils down to the mission statement and I understand but as someone who has makes quilts for this organization I am thrilled that all children receive a quilt. Being in the hospital is scary for the kids that are aware of what is going on and terrifing to the parents of the ones that are too young. A quilt is a comforting distraction from the beeps, shots, smells and all around sterile feeling of the hospital.

I am sorry you were tweaked about it but not feel bad either if the quilts are being given away willy nilly and a truely sick child misses out because of it than the issue needs to be addressed. As a volunteer at the hospital can you not find out where and how the quilts are being handed out? Maybe someone who doesn't get it might just give the quilts to the peds. dept and move on without explaining the program.

Let us know what you find out.

Our guild make and donates about 25-30 quilts per month to the NICU (neonatal) at local hospital.
Also to the Veterans at Christmas about 250 -to 300 per year. Very rewarding for all of us.

I make charity quilts for babies in a local group and we do not give quilts to the local hospitals as they will give a quilt to every baby born (could be a doctors baby or a lawyers baby) and so we do not give them quilts as we feel that we would prefer our quilts to go to those in need. Guess it depends on the hospital and the charity group.

I've made Quilts for Kids for the past year - 4 or 5 or them a month. The reason I decided to do this was that I knew where the quilts were going - to the University Children's Hospital. I also donate to my quilt guild - usually 1 a month. They go to the Salvation Army. The reason I favor my local Quilts for Kids is that these kids are sick and need comfort. While the Salvation Army does a terrific job, I've worked and volunteered in organizations in the community and know that there are families that know the rounds - and make them like clockwork to get what they can get free. It's not that they necessarily need it, it's that they feel like they are entitled to it. I like the idea that some child that needs comfort is clinging to a quilt that I made.

It could be that the nurse told the mother (of a child with a life threatening illness) that 'all' children get a quilt...so the mother wouldn't be reminded of the severity of the illness.

As a donation quilter, I totally agree. I often wonder just HOW the quilts are given out.....when I donate to Linus, I have a choice as to just where I want my items to go........whereas there is a local group that I also donate to and the person who runs this is very aware of just where her quilts/blankets etc are needed and thus distrubes accordingly......

I think this is a great thing, I collect and make quilts for a local foster home and each kid leaving there gets one. They love to curl up in a quilt and they know someone cares.

Cookie64

Thank you for being considerate of others.....

I'm just thinking, the doctors child or the lawyers child would probably appreciate a quilt just as much as the child of the person who has been on welfare all of their lives and is abusing the system to get whatever they can for free from whoever they can con. Just as much as it isn't the childs fault what situation they are born into, neither is the child more fortunate responsible for being born into whatever their situation is. I think it's time we stop punishing the person that works hard and lasvishing the child that lives on welfare because of his parents choice. It reminds me of when the company I worked for picked a needy family for Christmas and the family got so much, it even included a washer and dryer. What does that kid tell the neighborhood friends that got one or two gifts because his parents work at low paying jobs to make ends meet and here are the neighbors that never work and they got nintendos and whatever else they could scam from the hard working people. Now, after writing this I debate, should I delete and just forget it? I'm sorry if I offend anyone but please think about the kids. They are all just kids no matter what their parents have.

Now days kids are only hospitalized if they are really sick or having surgery so I think it's appropriate that every child in the hospital get a quilt.

I think it's very possible that the nurses told the recipient mom that every child gets a quilt so that she would not feel singled out (say, for being poor). In reality they might not give them to every child.

You might confirm the policy with the nurses on that floor.

I think it's too difficult to make a judgement call on this one. The mission statement is vaguely worded, and there is not enough information about the child in question. The child was admitted to the hospital, so obviously there was some kind of issue. If you're unhappy with how this donation was handled, send your donations elsewhere.

In our Quilt Show Jan 28th, we had a woman bring a quilt to show for the Linus project, she has made OVER 3,000 for Linus project. I give her my scraps.

Bottom Line: It's all about a sick child receiving a quilt and that's exactly what happened! Isn't that why we make and donate them?

I really do not feel the need to know more then this: a child received a quilt made by me!

I'm going to go out on a limb here. As stated above, QFK can not control what a hospital does once they receive the donation quilts. QFK's mission has not changed. In the instance that originally started this discussion, we have no way of knowing all the circumstances surrounding why this child was given a quilt. If, in fact, that partiacular hospital has enough quilts to go around for all the children there, then hooray for them - it's a beautiful thing. If you, as a quilter, would prefer your charity work to be handled differently that what was done in the original situation if that was not your understanding, then perhaps doing some digging into your charity of choice practices is needed.

Personally, I do work for QFK. Not as much as I originally intended, but what I can. If I am not mistaken the founder started this organization because her child had been hospitalized with a serious illness and received a quilt for comfort. The founder was so touched by someone else's thoughfulness and generosity that she wanted to pay that effort forward. And has done an amazing job, I think. I will continue to support this organization. It makes me feel good to do something for someone else and I get to do something I love to do in the process.

How do we know that maybe that quilt was 'redonated' from a family of a QFK child?! I don't think it's for us to judge 'where' it came from or to whom it went to, no matter the label. Am sure the new quilt owner is warmed by it.

Sometimes things happen for reasons that are unknown....you never can tell with "random acts of kindness"...I would call it "meant to be" and continue to quilt for your charities. One of the reasons I quilt is because I know the finished product will bring comfort.....Who knows where a quilt will end up on it's journey through life. All children need comfort and love, no matter what their background or situation. Sometimes those who look like they need things the least, in truth need the most. Happy quilting.

Ugh!! I am trying to go to the site ya listed here to get more info and get involved but I only get the following message:
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I would like to get more info and even get involved, is there a way to do that other than this link?

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