Small gestures can mean a lot, especially to kids recovering from the trauma of physical and sexual abuse.
That’s why Nancy Longson started making quilts 20 years ago to give to sick and traumatized children.
“I was watching a movie and it was about a little girl who had cancer and she had to go to the hospital for all these treatments and her grandmother made her a quilt,” said Longson. “It just started me to thinking, I wonder how many children there are who don’t have grandmothers that make quilts.”
It started with taking quilts to Ronald McDonald House. Over the years, Longson gathered together a group of people to make the quilts for other organizations too, like the Calgary Police Service. The latest beneficiary is the Sheldon Kennedy Centre.
“Nancy has kind of spearheaded this whole project and that's pretty amazing,” said Emily Synnott at the Sheldon Kennedy Centre. “We're just very inspired always. Each month they bring so many to us. Just this past month as well they've been creating Christmas stockings for the kids.”
About 1000 quilts have been donated to the centre since the relationship began. The group meets every week in a space provided by My Sewing Room on MacLeod Trail. Nancy says it’s wonderful seeing the impact of what they do.
“When you see a great big six foot tall policeman crying because they're giving a kid a quilt, it warms the cockles of your heart,” she said.
For created Quilts from the Heart to bring comfort to kids, Nancy Longson is our Inspired Albertan this week.
