Community
Service
Nā Lima ALOHA (THE HANDS THAT LOVE)
Nā Lima Aloha was established in July 2004 as a community service to support various organizations and agencies throughout Oahu and to support relief operations in other areas as well. Through the donations of smaller-sized quilts, we share our aloha with displaced, needy, or critically ill children and adults. Organizations we have contributed to in the past include various senior citizen convalescent homes, the Veterans Administration Center for the Aging, hospitals, abuse shelters, and foster care facilities. In the past year we have donated over 300 items throughout the island. Fabric donations are always welcome, so please contact our coordinator if you’d like to contribute!
Click here for Nā Lima Aloha guidelines, information on how
you can contribute, and more. For area coordinator contact information,
contact our Nā
Lima Aloha Coordinator here.
HOME OF THE BRAVE QUILTS
Home of the Brave is a nationwide grassroots effort to honor the families of military service men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice in the Global War on Terror (GWOT). Their goal is to provide a homemade quilt (based on a Civil War pattern) to the family of every service member killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is not a political statement about the war, but a way for quilters to honor the memory and sacrifice of our fallen heroes. The quilts are made for specific, identified individuals and are personalized with an embroidered label with the service member’s name, date, and place of death.
Currently there are 24 casualties from GWOT who have been identified as residents of Hawaii, spread across Oahu, Maui, and the Big Island. Individuals can help by donating time to sew, donating fabric (quilting quality fabrics in Civil War Reproduction colors or other subdued colors) or batting, or donating funds to help with professional quilting. For additional information, please visit the website for the Hawaii Chapter at www.homeofthebravequiltshawaii.org.
WOUNDED WARRIOR QUILTS
If you’re looking for a project close to home here in Hawaii that offers support to our wounded military, please consider helping to brighten the life (and barracks room) of a Marine or sailor in the Wounded Warrior Company at Marine Corps Base Kaneohe Bay. Through the outreach of several of our guild members, we continue to contribute to this worthy cause. While our greatest wish is that there would be no more wounded, unfortunately we know there will be more in the months ahead. If you’re interested in getting involved in this project, here are some basic guidelines:
- Quilts should be approximately 70” x 90” (twin size), so that they will fit over the side of the bed and partially cover the bed frame.
- There are no pattern, fabric design, or color restrictions, though 100% cotton is preferred.
- Please label the quilt with your name and date; if you’d like to write a message of support on the label, that would be great!
Completed quilts can be mailed directly to the Wounded Warrior Company Hawaii, ATTN: Major Kurt Schmidhamer, Bldg 7046, MCBH Kaneohe, HI 96863.
If you’re not sure you can tackle a twin-size quilt, please consider a wall hanging for the rooms or a lap blanket for a wounded married Marine or sailor recovering at home.
For more information on this project, please contact Mary Forde at usnusmcmom@yahoo.com or our guild webmaster.
OPERATION KID COMFORT
The Armed Services YMCA (ASYMCA) Operation Kid Comfort program is designed to address the emotional stress that children of military personnel suffer during a parent’s absence from home. Operation Kid Comfort serves children of deployed Service members. ASYMCA volunteers collect photographs from military families to make “photo-transfer” quilts (for children 5 years old and under; pillows for those over 5) that bear the images of the deployed family member, alone or interacting with the family. The quilt or pillow is then given to the child to play with, sleep with or use to comfort them from the grief of missing their deployed parent.
Over 3000 quilts/pillows have been lovingly created by scores of volunteers around the country. However, due to the publicity of the program, requests for quilts are coming in from around the country—especially from the Reserve/Guard community—much faster than the quilts can be produced. Many more volunteers are needed! The ASYMCA National Headquarters has developed a “kit” that contains everything needed to produce a quilt/pillow. These quilt kits are then sent to volunteers to assemble. The volunteer then mails (mailing label and postage strip is included) the quilt/pillow to the child for whom it was made. If you’re interested in participating in this project, please contact Susan Simms at ssimms@asymca.org, or complete and mail in the Quilter Information sheet contained here (note: the Quilter Information Sheet is located on the second page of this form).
QUILTS OF VALOR
The numbers of wounded from operations in Iraq and Afghanistan continue to grow, and quilts do so much to show support of our military men and women, and provide comfort to them during their often long recoveries. The program coordinator is looking for quilters to piece tops together and longarm quilters to participate in this very worthwhile effort. If interested, please visit www.qovf.org for more info.
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