A heart felt donation

Apr 28, 2011

Photo: l-r Lois Emond, Esther Irving, Carolyn Hasler and Linda Lindsay

Members of the Land O'Lakes Quilters Guild in Cloyne decided this year to make and donate a quilt to the second annual Flinton Relay for Life cancer fundraiser, which will be taking place in Flinton on June 10. The quilt was presented to Flinton Relay chair Carolyn Hasler at Pineview Free Methodist church on April 26.

The guild, which has 27 members, makes regular annual quilt donations to the Community Services office in Northbrook, who in turn distribute the quilts to those in need in the community.

Guild member, Lois Emond, has a brother battling cancer and felt that making a quilt to support cancer research through the Flinton Relay would be a worthwhile donation for the guild to make this year. She approached Esther Irving, who is in charge of outreach and programming with the guild, and guild president Linda Lindsay, with her idea. “All the guild members, many of whom also have family members battling cancer, felt it would be a great idea.” Esther said.

The guild financially supported the project and Lois and Esther teamed up to design and make the quilt. Named the “Gathering of Hearts” quilts, it was made in the cottage country style and in Esther's words was named to reflect the idea behind the Flinton Relay. “The Relay for Life is a gathering of human hearts who are coming together to help each other and to give back to the community, so we wanted to make a quilt that reflected that idea in an upbeat and positive way. ” Relay chair Carolyn Hasler was thrilled with the donation and continues to be amazed at how the entire community is once again coming together. “I was overwhelmed and am so grateful for the guild’s generosity and willingness to support the event.”

The raffle will also include a second prize of 18 holes of golf for two at Hunter’s Creek Golf Course in Cloyne and a third place prize of a cedar deck chair made and donated by Red Emond.

The quilt will be on display at the Flinton Memorial Library and will be raffled off the night of the relay on June 10 at 11:30 PM. To purchase raffle tickets contact Carolyn Hasler at 613-336-8659 or Lois Emond at 613-336-8011. To date 31 teams have signed up for this year’s Flinton Relay and Carolyn is still hoping that more teams will sign up. She is also looking for volunteers to help with the Saturday morning breakfast on June 11. Anyone interested in donating their time can contact her. The next meeting for the Flinton Relay will take place on Wednesday May 25 at the Flinton Community Centre at 7PM.