Volunteers have worked for the last three years to create thousands of quilts for residential school survivors, and they’re not stopping any time soon.
“I’ve always volunteered all my life,” said Marcelle Dallaire, who started volunteering after she retired. “I was looking for something to keep me busy, and one day I’m on Facebook and I saw Quilts for Survivors, and I started reading.”
Quilts for Survivors has been a welcoming place for quilters and non-quilters alike in their work to create quilts for residential school survivors. With their 5,000th blanket on its way to a recipient in Manitoba, the team is always looking for more people to help.
Dallaire has enjoyed helping people learn to quilt more, no matter their skill level.
“I’m here three times a week,” said Dallaire. “I help with the youth night, I help with people coming in, showing them everything around.”
Vanessa Genier said it’s been a wild ride so far, and sending out this quilt seemed like a dream when she started.
“Our original goal was 18 quilts, which we met in like two weeks, which is crazy,” said Génier. “Who would have thought, from 18 to 5,000!”
Each quilt is smudged before it is shipped to a survivor.
“It’s amazing what one person can do when they’re supported by thousands of people from across the world, and it really unites us,” said Génier.
Quilts for Survivors has also received a lot of support from the Timmins Chamber of Commerce, and CEO Keitha Robson said it’s a natural fit.
“Quilts for Survivors makes it easy for us because they always like to celebrate things and they’re doing great work, and they always involve us in knowing what’s going on with them and how we can support them, so we’re happy to do it,” said Robson.
Dallaire said that her volunteer hours with Quilts for Survivors have been a learning experience for her, both about quilting and about Indigenous issues.
“I was a quilter but not the way they quilt, so I had to relearn a lot of stuff,” she said. “I saw the bad side of what residential schools did to survivors and their families, but then I came to believe there was good in everybody, and I came here and started sewing, and hearing about residential schools and to this day I get chills.”
The 5,000th quilt means a lot for the people at the heart of the organization and Dallaire said she’s looking forward to the next big number.
“It’s such a goal to be reached and I hope we can reach 10,000,” said Dallaire.
