Here's a letter I sent out to my Binky Patrol chapter today. I've been having some trouble coordinating with the Quilts for Canada people and there is a really big fire here in California that started yesterday. I was thinking that instead of working so hard to get quilts out of the country, it might be better to keep them local. I'm hoping that nobody objects so the quilts will bring comfort to those who have lost so much.
I hope your summer is going well and you have found some time for quilting. As you know, we have been working on quilts to send to the people who have lost homes in the Fort McMurray area of Canada and our goal was to send them off by July 15. I think we have about 100 quilts either finished or almost finished. I was hoping to get FedEx to ship the quilts for us, like they did with the Quilts for Japan in 2011 when we collected 1144.
There have been a couple of snags along the way. First, the people who are collecting the quilts have been having to pay a tariff on all of the quilts coming in from the US, which has added up to a lot of money for them. Second, in order for us to ship through FedEx for free, we need a non profit on the receiving end to accept the quilts. I've asked three times and been told they would have an address and tax ID number for me by the next day (all three times) and I still haven't received the information so I could start the mailing process. Perhaps the thought of having to pay more for quilts from the US is causing the stall, or perhaps they are just overwhelmed with the number of donations they have already received, I'm not quite sure.
I wanted to ask if anyone had a problem with changing out plans to send the quilts we've collected already to those who have lost homes in the Kern County fire that started yesterday? It is a quickly moving fire that has already burned more than 80 homes and killed 2 people. It's near Lake Isabella.
Carla has volunteered to deliver the quilts for us when she takes her daughter down for a college visit to San Diego in July, so I know the quilts will make it to their destination and will bring comfort to fire victims.
Let me know if you think this is OK and I hope you will continue to support our efforts. If you hear of someone in need of the comfort of a quilt, please let me know via email or with a phone call. I always keep a couple of quilts on hand.
Thanks for all you do for the kids in crisis.
Marilyn Lewis
Vacaville Binky Patrol Area Coordinator
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