by Brenda Meier

Where do our quilts go? It’s the most frequently asked question I hear in my work with Parish Projects at Lutheran World Relief. People are curious about where the quilts and kits made in their parishes go and who receives them. The answer to that question is not a quick one. Lutheran World Relief has distributed millions of quilts and kits to people living in more than 100 countries around the world.

Where do our quilts go? might be the most frequently asked question, but in truth, the most important question is: What good do our quilts do? That is where the heart of the ministry lies: in the effect your gifts of love and comfort have on those who receive them.

Quilts, pencils, soap, needles, and thread — these ordinary things become extraordinary when they are assembled into LWR Parish Projects and shared as gifts with people in need. By sharing tools for better health and education, you bring new hope and dignity to thousands of women, children, and men throughout the world.

The good your work does
As boxes of your quilts and kits stream into LWR’s warehouses, they are unpacked, inventoried, and prepared for their long journey. Kits and soap are repacked into
cardboard cartons designed especially for shipping overseas; quilts are folded, stacked, compressed, and wrapped in plastic to protect them from dust and moisture during transport to places where the need is great.

In Lebanon, as fighting broke out last year between Israel and Hezbollah, Lutheran World Relief’s response to the humanitarian crisis included a shipment of 10,500 quilts and 18,700 health kits for people displaced by the violence.

In Pakistan, when the deadly 7.6 earthquake destroyed villages in October 2005, LWR sent an initial shipment of 3,750 quilts, delivered almost immediately after the quake via air freight donated by Pakistan Airways. A second shipment of 11,250 quilts followed shortly after on an ocean freighter. The quilts were a welcome gift for those left homeless by the quake as winter was fast approaching.

Even in the Sahara Desert, a warm quilt is a blessing. In Mali, where LWR quilts have traveled as far as Timbuktu, temperatures rise above 100 degrees in the heat of the day, but can drop into the 50s after the sun sets, making the warmth of LWR quilts absolutely necessary, particularly for those who are sick and the elderly.

In China, primary school children use items from their new school kits to handwrite thank-you notes to LWR. "I, on behalf of all my schoolmates and our parents, would like to write to you to thank you for your kind help and caring love," wrote 10–year–old Bao Xin.

In Peru, a teacher tells of his appreciation for the donated school kits: "The children will carry these gifts in their hearts, and in their minds they will know that there are people in faraway places who care enough to share and to send help to people in need."

In South Asia, LWR’s relief efforts in response to the 2004 tsunami were complemented by shipments of LWR layettes, health kits, school kits, and quilts — approximately $1 million worth. On the remote western coast of Nias, Indonesia, health kits were distributed in conjunction with a water and sanitation project to promote better hygiene and help prevent such diseases as diarrhea, cholera, malaria, and dengue. School kits were distributed as a part of a psychosocial program in Banda Aceh to encourage children to reconnect with their education; hospitals and clinics received layettes for new and expectant mothers.

In Sudan, school kits and health kits enable more children to attend school. Local officials report a significant enrollment increase at the schools that receive school kits, and also note that the general cleanliness and hygiene of the students improve because of the health kits. Parents are especially appreciative of the kits because they are able to save the money they otherwise would have had to spend on the supplies.

In Liberia, the Widow Empowerment for Total Involvement (WETI) organization has found a number of valuable uses for sewing kits. "They are not pieces of cloth, they are important items for our training and services we are providing," said one member of the organization. WETI is an association organized by the wives of pastors and works on behalf of the many women widowed by Liberia’s civil war. Some of the kits are used by members of WETI to sew clothing for orphans; other kits are used to train women and men in practical tailoring skills that they can use to earn an income.

These stories are just some of the ways Lutherans in the United States stretch their hearts and hands across the oceans to help people in need through LWR Parish Projects.

And your good work does not go unnoticed.

The second most frequently asked question I hear is from the people who receive your gifts of quilts and kits. Who are these people who care enough for us to send us such wonderful gifts? The answer is one I have spoken many times: "They are caring Lutherans in the United States. They share these gifts with you as an expression of their faith, to show their care and love for you as a neighbor and friend."

Brenda Meier is director for parish and community engagement at Lutheran World Relief in Baltimore, Md.

Learn more about where your quilts go. See www.lwr.org/parish and download the 2006 Material Resources Shipping Chart, which lists all the places LWR sent your quilts and kits last year.

"Ordinary to Extraordinary," a new video about LWR quilts and kits, replaces "Flying Quilts," one of LWR’s most frequently requested videos. The new video takes viewers to Mali, West Africa, where more than 30,000 LWR quilts have been distributed over the last few years. Call 1–800–LWR–LWR–2 to request a free loan of "Ordinary to Extraordinary." Also available is a new edition of Be Involved, the handbook for LWR Parish Projects.