Local sewing group donates quilts to Good Knights of Lorain County, which provides beds to those without

ELYRIA — A local sewing group has made quilts to donate to children in Lorain County just in time for the winter season. Sewing for Pleasure is a group that operates out of the Second Baptist Church in Elyria. Elyria Councilwoman Brenda Davis is a member of the group. She recently participated in a bed build for Good Knights of Lorain County, which provides beds to those without, and she got the idea to make quilts to donate to the organization. The sewing ladies started out about six years ago through the Adopt-A-School initiative. Alice Robinson, a member of the sewing group, said they've been meeting every Monday morning ever since. Adopt-A-School has several different initiatives, including its backpack program, crocheting classes, GED classes, and health and wellness classes, but quilting is one of the bigger programs, Robinson said. "It's a labor of love," Robinson said. "It's not something that people would just pick up and do. It has to be a labor of love. And a lot of creativity." During the beginning of COVID-19, Robinson said they weren't able to meet for a while. But they decided to come back and be physically distanced in the Second Baptist Church. Each lady wore a mask. Robinson said they take temperatures when entering the building and sign a health form. The group is mostly made up of elderly ladies and Robinson said they wanted to be careful and take extra precaution, but it's also healthy for them to socialize with each other. Darlene Shimandle, who owns Mom's Sewing Basket in Amherst, also donated her time for the quilts. While the sewing group patterns them and pieces that together, Shimandle finishes putting them together at her business. Shimandle chose to do that part for free for the donation. She said she likes to do one charity project a year, and thought this one would be the right one to do. Each lady did about two quilts each to donate to Good Knights. Davis said she wanted to give children something warm to sleep under once they get a bed. Each quilt had some sort of theme for a child, such as Bob the Builder, Mickey Mouse, sports and teddy bears. Davis said the group is all about doing community projects. The members even started sewing "hundreds and hundreds" of masks to give out to community members. "It's always about trying to find a need and serve that need, fulfill that need," Robinson said. Although the group is run out of Second Baptist, Robinson said it's open to the community to join, and ladies from different regions come out on Mondays. Even when they aren't donating quilts to Good Knights, Robinson said they're still giving them away. She said no one really sells their quilts, but they instead give them to people who need them. "Particularly now, I think it's important that we recognize community," Robinson said. "Family is no longer just blood relative, but your family is your community. And we have to be willing to see the needs of the people and try to fulfill those needs, whether it's food or clothing or a warm quilt. And right now things are so hard. People are struggling in so many ways, and I think for a child to get a bed, something they've never had, and then get a nice, new quilt to go with it, I think that's phenomenal." Contact Laina Yost (440) 329-7121 or lyost@chroniclet.com.