SERVICE PROJECTS

Over the years, NeedleChasers have generously contributed their time and quilting talents to the local community. They have donated hundreds of quilts to organizations, shelters, and hospitals; taught quilting and sewing to neighborhood and school groups; volunteered at needlework and quilt shows; given presentations; and created countless quilts and other items to be sold, auctioned, or raffled to raise money for non-profit organizations.

A few of the NeedleChasers' service projects are described below. If you'd like to offer your help or know of other community organizations that could use our assistance, please contact us.

WEE BEES

Each month the Wee Bees meet to tie and bind quilts that are donated to a variety of local organizations that service children in need, including a pre-school program at the House of Ruth, the HSC Pediatric Center, and Mary’s Center for Maternal and Child Care. The Wee Bees meet on the first Wednesday of each month at a member’s home in Northwest Washington D.C. For more information, see the home page or our current newsletter.

All NeedleChasers are encouraged to participate. There's no need to let anyone know if you plan to attend. Just come and join in the fun of creating colorful quilts for kids. We welcome donations of fabric, batting, and other materials that could be used in the construction of quilts for young children.

OTHER SERVICE PROJECTS

The NeedleChasers work on other community projects as well. For example:

Many of our members support Quilting for Good, a monthly quilt-a-thon sponsored by G Street Fabrics in Rockville. Volunteers with basic sewing skills gather and assemble quilts and blankets for Mary's Center for Maternal and Child Care, a local clinic that provides health care, education, and social services to Washington area immigrant communities. For more information, contact Prue Hoppin at (202) 986-6251.

At right is a photo from a recent Mary's Center newsletter showing Prue and colleague Ginny Spevak delivering quilts to the Center.

In addition, in recent years, NeedleChasers have:

designed and created quilts to support fund raising for the House of Ruth and the National Foster Parent Association.
worked with Children's International Art Outreach to help families displaced by hurricane Katrina create a quilt that captures their feelings about home. (For more information about this project, click here.)
actively supported QuiltPink, a project that raises money for Susan G. Komen for the Cure. To find out more about QuiltPink, click here.

designed and created sixteen lap quilts for Alzheimers patients at the IONA Senior Center. For photos of some of these quilts, click here.