Graham Jaehnig/Daily Mining Gazette Chris Davis, with the South Range Grace Lutheran Church Quilters Group, displays a baby layette, along with some of the 135 quilts being packed to ship to Lutheran World Relief. In the background is Katie Bridgers, administrative ministry coordinator at the church.

SOUTH RANGE – Every October, several local churches send quilts, school kits and baby layettes and health kits to Lutheran World Relief be shipped to where they are needed most. Katie Bridgers, administrative ministry coordinator at Grace Lutheran Church in South Range said the church has been doing this for more than 40 years. “We are one of several congregations that are doing this,” Bridgers said.

Last Wednesday, the ladies in the quilting group spent the afternoon packing and getting all items ready to be picked up Friday. This year there were 135 locally crafted, handmade quilts and blankets to be packed. “They’ll go to two different warehouses,” said volunteer Christine Davis, “one in Minnesota and one in Maryland. They go whenever there is a catastrophe.”

Although the items sometimes reach places around the world, one volunteer who did not want her name mentioned, said many stay in the United States, including to areas California that were recently devastated by wildfires. “Some quilts were sent to North Carolina after Hurricane Katrina,” Davis said.

Every year local churches send quits, school kits, layettes and health kids to Lutheran World Relief to be shipped out to where needed.  Christine Davis said the baby layettes contain several items. “There are blankets, diapers, towels, a sweater, which has to have either a cap or a hoodie, two pajamas, two tee-shirts, soap, socks –”

Davis said the school kits consist of four notebooks, five pencils, five pens, an eraser, a pencil sharpener, scissors, crayons, and a ruler. “Then we put them in a little ‘backpackie’ thing,” she said. Health kits include a toothbrush, nail clippers, a comb, towels, and soap.

The kits used to include shampoo, said Davis, but no longer do. “We used to have more things,” she said, “but when they started doing that ‘you can’t put this kind of liquid of a plane,’ and all this and that, we couldn’t do shampoo anymore, along with different things we used to send.”

As with other volunteer-based groups, the Grace Lutheran Church Quilters Group is seeing a decline in younger volunteers. Bridgers said the majority of newer ones joining the group have recently retired. “But being a good community, too,” Sharon, who did not want to provide her last name, said, “we have people from other churches that come and help us.”

Bridgers said there many people involved in the year-round project who do not make quilts. “We have people who donate us material, including bedsheets,” said Sharon. “People can volunteer and give us a sheet that they’re not using anymore, so it’s like a recycled product to have. They make wonderful quilt backings.”

While the quilts and kits are packed and shipped in October, Bridgers said the group meets every Wednesday at 1 p.m. throughout the year. “Anyone would be welcome,” Bridgers said. “I don’t know about over the years, but wright now it’s women who are doing it, but that certainly doesn’t mean that men couldn’t come, or people of any age can come.”

Anyone interested in more information on the quilting group can call the church at (906) 482-2011, or can email at grace@gracesouthrange.com