Our small organization makes a huge impact in certain places in addition to quilt and fabric stores! One focus for our group is our Christmas Stocking Project. The Missouri River Quilt Guild, in collaboration with Missouri Department of Corrections Restorative Justice Coalition and the Jefferson City Correctional Center, make Christmas stockings for purpose of donating them to local area food banks for their own use.
In 2010, Christmas stockings were donated to The Food Bank for Central and Northeast Missouri in Columbia; Serve, Inc. in Fulton, and The Samaritan Center in Jefferson City. The Food Bank for Central and Northeast Missouri received 68 stockings and decided to sell them as premiums during two radio-thons. Each person that donated $100 received one of our hand crafted stockings. The Food Bank made a whopping $6800.00 from our 68 Christmas stockings!
The Samaritan Center sold all of their Christmas stockings to one donor for $2000.00. The contributor returned the stockings to the Samaritan Center to give to families in need of Christmas assistance.
Serve, Inc. used some of the stockings to hold personal care items and donated them to Girls Town in Calwood.
Food Banks are able to purchase 20 pounds of food for every $1.00 they receive and translate that into 13 meals. It’s worth repeating, they translate one U.S. Dollar into 13 meals! Our 2010 Christmas Stocking Project enabled local food banks to provide approximately 88, 400 meals!
Now our 2011 Christmas Stocking Project is underway. The first group work day, which was held on July 23, 2011, is off to a great start according to C.J. Cornelius, Project Coordinator.
The holidays are just around the corner! If you care to help locally and can’t make a stocking,
consider donating to the following local agencies:
http://www.midmosamaritan.com/
http://www.serveinc.net/
http://www.sharefoodbringhope.org/
