WALHALLA — Quilting has for many years been a great tradition in the Golden Corner and quilters from a local quilter’s guild have donated some of their creations to the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office to assist citizens in our county.
“This is another tool in our proverbial toolbox that we can use to comfort and help the citizens of our county,” said Oconee County Sheriff Mike Crenshaw. “The Sheriff’s Office is very appreciative of this donation.”
The Comfort Quilt Committee of the Lake and Mountain Quilt Guild has collected quilts from members and has distributed them to various charities and organizations, including GHS Lila Doyle, the children’s area at Oconee Memorial Hospital, the Cottingham Hospice House, Helping Hands and Safe Harbor.
Now, those creations have made their way into the vehicles of the Uniform Patrol Division to provide comfort to children and families as officers respond to calls for service.
Nancy Porter and Sandy Hawkins brought by two bags of quilts to go along with those who had been donatedy.
Porter and Hawkins said that they had learned that in some cases when law enforcement responds to calls, there are sometimes children and families that could be displaced or may have to leave their homes for some reason, including those time when the weather turns cold.
Therefore, the Comfort Quilt Committee wanted keep those families and children as warm and as comfortable as possible and initially donated five quilts to place in the Uniform Patrol Vehicles.
The goal, according to Porter and Hawkins, is to have quilts in all patrol vehicles for the 35 Uniform Patrol Deputies of the Sheriff’s Office. They said two comfort quilts a week can be made.
The Lake and Mountain Quilters Guild, which traces its roots back to the 1980’s, meets the first Monday of each month at 7 p.m. at the Episcopal Church of the Ascension, 214 North Hampton Road in Seneca.