Community Service Projects
Red River Quilters has been reaching out to our local community since the guild’s formation in 1983. There are many service project opportunities for our members. All participation is voluntary – and completely appreciated! Here’s a list of how we help (Scroll down to learn more):
Love Wrappers
Comfort Caps for Cancer Patients
Ronald McDonald House Pop Tabs
Do you have a service project you’d like to propose to the guild? Contact any Board member to find a place for your project.
Love Wrappers
Contact person: TBA
One of Red River Quilters’ primary service projects is Love Wrappers. A Love Wrapper is a baby quilt used by area NICU’s to cover the bassinettes while babies are in the hospital and then the quilts are sent home with parents. Red River Quilters donate Love Wrappers to Willis Knighton South, Christus Highland Medical Center, Ochsner LSU Health, and the Care Pregnancy Center. We donate over 300 quilts each year.
A Love Wrapper Kit contains thirty-five 6 ½ inch squares, border fabric, backing fabric, and binding. Batting is also available with each kit.
Members may pick up kits at meetings to work on at home and then bring the completed quilts back. The quilts are collected by the Love Wrapper Chairman, washed in warm water with color catchers, and then delivered to specified hospitals.
Members may also donate baby quilts made from their own pattern and fabric if desired. Volunteers donate novelty fabrics, help cut and assemble kits, sew quilts from kits, and make quilts from their stash
Comfort Caps for Cancer Patients
Contact person: Jackie Pierce
Red River Quilters donate Comfort Caps to area cancer treatment centers. Since 2010, we have donated more that 3,500 caps to chemo patients at Christus Cancer Center and Willis-Knighton Cancer Centers in Shreveport, La. Our hope is that these caps bring comfort to chemo patients at a time when so much feels out of their control.
If you are interested in making caps, “ready to sew” kits are available at every guild meeting. This kit consists of four fabric pieces and batting. A cap takes about 15 minutes to sew.
Ronald McDonald House Pop Tabs
Contact Person: Linda McCullough
Our guild proudly supports the Ronald McDonald House in Shreveport. Construction of the Shreveport/Bossier Ronald McDonald House began in October, 2024. It is located on the campus of Willis-Knighton South (9100 Susan Drive) in Shreveport. It will have the capacity to serve 20 families during their child’s hospitalization. Ours will be one of 386 such houses in the world.
Families will have access to a private double queen room, daily essentials, laundry, indoor/outdoor play areas, a family great room, a large kitchen, a dining room, and a family pantry. Meals will be provided by volunteer groups from the area. Transportation to and from area hospitals will also be provided.
Completion date is set for August of 2025. The need for a house was determined after multiple interviews which indicated that many families were sleeping in their cars while their children were hospitalized.
Families who do not spend the night can get a day pass where they will be able to shower, wash a load of laundry, get a snack, or enjoy a cup of coffee.
So how do we help? It’s actually pretty easy. Our guild collects aluminum soda can tabs. It takes approximately 1,128 pop tabs to equal one pound. Ronald McDonald receives between forty to fifty cents per pound. This program receives an average of $6,000 a year to support its programs.
Aluminum tabs are what is needed. They are not magnetic, so run a magnet across your tabs to see if they are aluminum. If they don’t stick to the magnet, collect them. These are generally the tabs from soda and drink cans.
You can put your tabs in a plastic bag and bring to the next guild meeting. Linda McCullough will take your collection and deliver to Lori Moore for the Ronald McDonald House in Shreveport.
