Quilty Pleasures Group Is Winding Down Mask Operation

Wednesday, 19 August 2020 05:12

An amazing group of volunteers has been making masks for the people of Oxford County since the start of the pandemic. The group is coming to the end of their fundraising efforts and mask making operation.

OXFORD COUNTY - The Oxford County Quilty Pleasures group has now raised over $25,000.

The group was started by Kathy Killaire, who had just taken a beginner quilting class in the winter. She called one her classmates and friends, Kelly Cowell and they got to work. Once they created the Facebook group, that's when things really took off.

The group of volunteers started out making them for front line workers and expanded to making them for everyone when masks became mandatory. You can read more about them online here.

Killaire when they started, they did not ask for any money.

"We weren't going to take any money at all and then we found that the public really wanted to give. I guess it just makes people feel better if they can help somebody else, from a group that is helping them. We started raising money for Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Oxford County and then when the money started coming in faster than we could have ever imagined, we thought we would pick up another one, which was Ingamo Homes. At first, I thought it we could raise $1,000, that would be great and now we are almost at $27,000, it's been great."

They have donated $20,000 to BBBS Oxford, $5,000 to Ingamo homes and the rest of the funds will go towards local food banks and other local charities.

Killaire says it really is an amazing group of people doing in this group.

"We are now very close to 700 members on our Quilty Pleasures group, which is amazing. At one time we had about 35 sewers, we also had people who would cut fabric, we had people who would run around for us, because that is a big thing, getting things from point A and point B."

Killaire says they are winding down operations now. Next Monday will be there last day of sewing, however they do have a number of masks that still need to go out and then they will be finished. You can still order a mask online through their Facebook page here.