When Nicholas was diagnosed with pediatric cancer a quilt group brought him a homemade blanket. It comforted him during his long hospital stays and gave comfort to our family in knowing that someone cared. The Smiles Quilt Program carries forward that gift of comfort by recruiting and coordinating fabric donations, sewers and quilt deliveries.

How Does Our Program Work? We send out quilts to children's hospitals across the country. A Smiles Quilt Representative, who volunteers their time, makes contact with their local hospital and finds the person in charge of donations for Pediatric Cancer patients. This is important to ensure that the children fighting cancer receive our beautiful quilts. Once that relationship is established they deliver the quilts to the contact at their local hospital. It doesn’t take up much of your time, but the reward is priceless!

What About Fabric Donations? Fabric donations are the driving force behind our quilting program. Some sewers have donated personal fabric, some have purchased fabric to donate and others have sent a money donation for this program. Whether it’s one piece or a whole bag full of fabric, we carefully match patterns and colors with our inventory and create kits for sewers.

What If I Am a Quilter and Want to Help? Thanks to Black Cat Creations we have an easy to follow pattern which takes an average quilter about 5 hours to complete. We can send you a copy of this pattern if you would like to use your own fabric, or we can send you a kit which would include the pattern and all the fabric and batting you need. Simply donate your time and talent!

What If I Am a Sewer but Have Never Quilted? Not a problem, you can help us make the tops. This requires only straight seams and the ability to follow a pattern. Then you would turn in your top and another volunteer would complete the quilt.

What If I Have a Quilt Group? Great! Just let us know what you need and we can help you get started.

We would like to give thanks to those who have participated in our program:

Fabric Donations by: Julie Gowanlock, JoAnn Hartung, Barbara Maraszek and friends, Mary Swanz, Eleanor Gorecki, Debbie Lohr, Shirley Morris, Hannah Rampton, Mrs. Rampton, Mrs. Phoenix, Richard Popiela and Caroline Custo.

Our Sewers: Eileen Wode, Joy Bookmiller,Yvonne Gniewecki, Glenda Pfeiffer, Rachel Rydzynski, JoAnn Hartung, Kay Ball, Cattaragus County group organized by Debbie Lohr, Wyoming County group organized by Bonnie Madison, Marian Gepfert, Nancy Waldorf and Girl Scout Troop 821 of Holland, NY

Distribution by Smiles Quilt Representatives:

• Christine Henderson to Children's Hospital of Orange County California
• Mary Swanz to St. Jude's Children's Hospital
• Carolee Jerome to Morristown Memorial Hospital in New Jersey
• Kathleen Hannon with her daughters Morgan and Olivia, to Fairfax Children’s Hospital in Virginia
• Cathleen Parsons-Nikolic and her family to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
• Roswell Park Cancer Institute
• University of Minnesota by Jodi Zeimetz

You can help by donating fabric, sewing quilts or recruiting sewers and by volunteering to be a Smiles Quilt Representative.