Prebyterian church members use talents
Aiming to brighten the lives of sick and abandoned babies in a Newark hospital, members of the Lawrenceville Presbyterian Church are sending handmade quilts to the children.
By: Lea Kahn
The colorful quilts, hanging on the walls in the corridor at the Lawrenceville Presbyterian Church on Main Street, were made by a handful of members. The quilts will be on display until the end of October.
The two dozen quilts will be taken to the University Hospital in Newark by church member Dawn D’Orlando, who is clinical coordinator at the hospital. The quilts will be distributed to the babies.
|
‘It makes us feel very happy. We are answering a need. It makes me feel good to help little children who cannot help themselves.’ Trudy Venner |
"Dawn takes the quilts to the hospital and the nurses distribute them. She said the nurses are anxious to get them and to give them to the babies. If the babies go home, the quilts go with them. The quilts belong to the babies (and not the hospital)," said church member Trudy Venner.
The babies at the University Hospital’s Francois-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Children may be HIV-infected or suffering from AIDS. The hospital has a special unit for "boarder babies," who have been determined to be at risk for abuse or neglect. Most of the boarder babies are born with drugs such as cocaine or heroin in their systems because of the mother’s drug addiction. They may stay in the hospital for a month or more, until a suitable home can be found for them.
For many of the babies, the quilt is their only possession, added church member Mary Helen Wiley, who is part of the quilt-making group. The families often have little or no clothing.
This is not the first time these church members have made a quilt. Two years ago, in celebration of the church’s 300th anniversary, a group of women created an anniversary quilt commemorating significant events in the congregation’s history.
The quilting project for the sick and abandoned babies grew out of the anniversary quilt project, Mrs. Venner said. Creating the large quilt was fun, she said, and people like to get together to work on projects.
The six or eight quilt-makers at the church mostly work alone, but they do meet once a month to share ideas, Mrs. Venner said. Many people donate material to be used for the quilts, although the batting that goes inside the quilt is purchased by the women.
Making the quilts by hand takes a lot of time, but machine-made quilts take less time to make, Mrs. Wiley said. It also depends on the patterns used in the quilts. There is no deadline for making the quilts, she said. When there are enough quilts, they are taken to the Newark hospital.
"It makes us feel very happy. We are answering a need. It makes me feel good to help little children who cannot help themselves," Mrs. Venner said.
Mrs. Wiley agreed that making the quilts gives her a good feeling. It also allows the quilt-makers to mix with other church members who they might not see other than at church services, she said.
The quilt-making group is not limited to the members of the Lawrenceville Presbyterian Church, Mrs. Venner said. Anyone who is interested may join the group, she said.