elnan

I agree with this reply from Kwhite. A nationally know quilter from our neck of the woods made and donated quilts to be given to children who were under great stress from tragedy. She dropped them off at the county office of an outfit that handles emergencies. Checking back with the office of that place later she was told they were too good to be given out to just anybody and instead were distributed among the families of those who worked there. Needless to say, they will receive no more quilts from her or the groups she works with.

Jordan

That is a very sad story especially when you assume the time consuming beautiful quilts are being given to children in need. I had a similar incident-my mom was in a nursing home for 2 yrs before she passed and I took out gift cards to 3 nurses with a long thank you note for each of them for all of their good care they gave my mother while a patient there. I went out to deliver the notes personally and ask for the ladies and the one nurse said "oh-I will take them and give the cards to them". In the pocket the cards went and I never heard anything after that. I feel the gift cards were kept by the one nurse and never handed out. It happens I guess. So sorry to hear of your dilemma.

Peckish

Are you not comfortable confronting the director if it turns out she DID give the quilt to her friend?

This part of my personality sometimes drives my husband nuts, but I'm the kind of person who would ask the director (without any kind of preamble or warning) and if it turns out that she DID give the quilt to her friend, I'd raise holy hell with their corporate offices and on social media. If she's stealing donated quilts - and let's face it, it IS stealing - what else is she stealing or misappropriating???

cathyvv

I would feel that the person who gave you the RMH receipt didn't log it into the records of RMH and is selling them and keeping the $. And I would contact McDonalds HQ and tell them what happened to see if they care at all. Of course, they would get no more donation quilts from me ever, too.

Unfortunately, there are bad folks in every organization , whether for profit or non-profit.

cathyvv

"Too good" to be given out to the folks having the emergency, so they kept them for themselves. Selfish thieves hiding behind the impression of doing good deeds. I think I would have called the police to report the theft and pushed to have the case prosecuted or the management fired. Those quilts are probably not the only donations that have been stolen.

cathyvv

The label is a good idea, especially if it is already on the quilt back when ithe quilt is quilted. To take the label off, the quilting would have to be picked out, which could ruin the quilt.

cathyvv

Goodwill is a FOR PROFIT organization. They pay their workers extremely low wages, allegedly because their workers are handicapped and couldn't get a job otherwise. It still costs $ to get to work, to have lunch, etc. It's quite a racket for the Goodwill company.

I NEVER donate to Goodwill since I found that out. I have bought fabric there because I use it for charity quilts. The one near me has changed managers and is not run well anymore, so I'm not even doing that now.

cathyvv

In a perfect world, what you suggest could happen. But we aren't in a perfect world! I belong to two guilds and bring our donated quilts to one of the charities we give to. I put them on the shelves, so I know they get there. I have also worked with kids who come in to shop - everything is free to them - and have helped them pick out quilts and pillow cases. I have also seen the pillow cases used at a free Christmas party for the kids. Each child is given a pillow case and then they go play some low tech, old school carnival type games, and win prizes. The prizes are then put into the pillow cases, and at the end of the party, the kids carry their loot home in the pillow cases.

Even so, I can't 100% tell you that all of the quilts are given to the children because I am not there 100% of the time. At some point in the process we have to trust those we work with.

That is the real problem with the RMH issue. The trust has been broken, or seems to have been broken.

One of the guilds used to give baby quilts to the local hospital, but found out that they were being sold in the gift shop for $10. That was less than it cost us (time and materials) to make the quilts, so we stopped giving them to the hospital. However, that might have been our fault - we may not have made it clear to the hospital who the quilts were for or what they were actually worth. Since I wasn't part of the process, I can't say more than that.

cathyvv

No pitchforks and torches here, Patricia. We all know that making quilts is both creative, fun, expensive and time consuming. So when we give them to a charity, we also want to know that our quilts go to those that are supposed to get them. It should not be a surprise to the charity that someone would ask about disposition of a donation.

If the director had simply responded to the request for information about the quilts, there would probably be a fast resolution/no lingering doubts. In this particular case, silence increases the suspicion of theft.

Jeanette Frantz

I very much agree that there needs to be some clarification in this instance. First and foremost, the quilts you made were specifically donated to be given to the children served by RMH. If the quilts were donated to be sold, then the suspicion of improper handling would not exist. In this case, you clearly set forth that the quilts were to be given to the children served by RMH. Several years ago, I was a board member and officer of a non-profit organization (located in Florida). Funds had been donated to the organization for a specified purpose, involving services provided by the organization to military personnel. Cash donations had been obtained and the funds were specifically earmarked for that purpose only. About 3 years ago, the organization lost the ability to provide the services for which the cash donations were given. After researching the issue, it was determined that Florida has a state statute which specifically prohibits using donations specifically earmarked by the donors for any other purpose. The non-profit organization ultimately decided that using the donations for purposes other than specified by the donors would be a violation of state statutes and also discredit the non-profit organization. For that reason, the donations were returned to the original donors (most of which were also non-profit organizations). I do believe that RMH authorities at the corporate level need to be aware of the situation. So, yes, I think you really need to resolve this matter for your own peace of mind. Items donated specifically to be given to victims should not, IMHO, be sold. And, the staffer should absolutely not have given your email address to anyone without your specific permission. That would definitely disturb me.