By Harold Reutter
Posted on Dec 15, 2015by Harold Reutter
Warm and comfy for Christmas.
More than 100 quilts delivered to the Heartland United Way guarantees that result for children who will be receiving presents given through the annual Toys for Tots program.
Fifty of them came from Pat Rakestrow, who has been making and donating quilts for the past eight years, ever since she retired. Rakestrow said part of her inspiration for her annual donation came from her grandmother and her grandmother’s younger sister, who for many years crocheted blankets for the Toys for Tots program.
Bonnie Westfall, director of development for the Heartland United Way, said Rakestrow’s quilts will go inside doll cradles made by Fullerton High School shop students.
She noted that dolls that can go inside those cradles are donated from one of the local Walmarts through the initiative of store manager Terry Holcomb.
“There are a lot of hands that go into making those presents,” Westfall said.
She noted that when parents begin selecting presents for their children through the Toys for Tots program, the baby doll quilts, cradles and the dolls are among some of the fastest gifts to fly off the shelves.
“The kids love them and play with them,” Westfall said.
On Tuesday, Susie Powell from the Prairie Plains Quilting Guild developed another 75 handmade quilts made by fellow guild members. Those quilts are designed to be used by actual children, including some sized for smaller kids and some sized for older and bigger kids.
Powell said that each year, the guild president decides which organization that will receive quilts. “Nancy Cramer made the decision to give the quilts to Toys for Tots this year,” she said.
Powell said past recipients have included the Boys Town Shelter, a juvenile detention center in northeast Nebraska and veterans who are part of the transitional living program of the VA Medical Center in Grand Island.
Quilts naturally give children a feeling of warmth and love, said Powell, who noted that makes them a great gift at Christmas time.
Karen Rathke, president of the Heartland United Way, was impressed when she saw the quilts made by Rakestrow and by members of the Prairie Plains Quilting Guild.
“I am just in awe,” she said. “They’re really amazing, beautiful work.”
Even the 125 quilts donated by Rakestrow and members of the Prairie Plains Quilting Guild does not reveal the generosity of local quilters.
Additional quilts for the Toys for Tots program were donated by the sewing group from First-Faith United Methodist Church in Grand Island, with other quilts coming from women who get together at the Salvation Army to do quilting.