Victoria’s Quilts Canada: The Neepawa Chapter
- Details
- Published on Saturday, March 17, 2018
Jessica Morton
Neepawa Banner & Press
The inspiration for the Victoria’s Quilts Canada (VQC) came from a woman named Victoria Ann Morrison who was best friends with Deborah Rogers, the founder of Victoria’s Quilts in the United States. Victoria Ann Morrison was a cancer patient and one of the comments she made about her chemotherapy was that she got cold while laying in the treatment facility waiting for the infusion to be over.
After Victoria lost her battle with cancer, and while seeking comfort from scripture and prayer, Deborah Rogers was led to Joshua 1:9 which reads “Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid nor dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you, wherever you go.” Rogers remembered Victoria’s comment about being cold during her treatment and wanted to do something to help others. Since Victoria made so many quilts in her lifetime, Rogers thought this would be a good place to start. Victoria took the fear out of quilting by saying “People aren’t perfect - why do quilts have to be?” and from this grew Victoria’s Quilts. Victoria’s Quilts Canada started in October of 1999 when Betty Giffin of Ottawa got a small group of friends together to make quilts and donate them to people living with cancer across Canada. The group started slowly but the idea sparked interest and slowly gained momentum.
Neepawa is the only VQC chapter in Manitoba
There are over 1,300 volunteers and 25 communities across Canada plus Ottawa. The Neepawa chapter was started in 2013 with Daphine Hall, Betty Kozak, Carol Walker, Marie Jean Moorhouse and Marg van Buskirk being the founding members. When they first started, the Neepawa chapter covered Neepawa, Minnedosa, Gladstone, Carberry and Kelwood with deliveries also being made in Brandon. Now, they cover 123 different communities in Manitoba. “In 2018 this group has made 45 quilts with over 600 quilt kits that have been through the system since I started,” said Audrey Heffell, a current Neepawa VQC member. To request a quilt you can go to the VQC website (http://www.victoriasquiltscanada.com/index.html) which gets put in through the Ottawa office. It is free of charge for the person requesting and receiving the quilt. The quilts are made for cancer patients with the hopes of bringing physical comfort as well as spiritual comfort by knowing they aren’t alone in their struggle. The quilts are made with a cotton top, a thin layer of batting for warmth and a flannelette backing for softness.
Fundraising needed
With the material being somewhat expensive each quilt costs around $80-$100 to make if the fabric hasn’t been donated. To keep up with the growing demand the Neepawa VQC holds fundraisers, like the Irish stew luncheon, and the money raised goes towards getting the materials needed to make the quilts along with mailing prices if the recipient is outside of their delivery zone. One of the biggest things the Neepawa VQC needs is help with fundraising. Along with accepting material donations, they also accept monetary donations which can be sent to Box 1444 Neepawa, MB R0J 1H0 donors will receive a charitable receipt for your donation. If you have any questions you can call the Neepawa VQC at 204-476-2972 for more information on how to help and what is the best way to help.
