Giving Back: Suzy Quilts 2023 Nonprofit Giving
Every year at Suzy Quilts, we donate to nonprofits that are special to our team — and we are able to do that because of you! Because of your pattern purchases and subscriptions to The Cutting Table we are able to once again donate $20,000!
These organizations champion causes that are important to us including saving quilt stories, solutions for unhoused neighbors, envisioning an inclusive world for children with disabilities, and supporting new moms.
Supporting nonprofit organizations isn't just about donating money. You can also support these organizations by following them on social media, subscribing to their newsletters, or attending virtual or in-person events if you are able. Support takes many different forms, and "friendraising" (growing an audience that is familiar with a nonprofit's work) can be just as important as fundraising!
In order to build strong relationships with the organizations we support, we give to the same nonprofits each year. Keep reading to learn about why we love these organizations and find a new nonprofit to support today.
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The Quilt Alliance is a nonprofit 501c3 organization established in 1993 with a mission to document, preserve, and share our American quilt heritage by collecting the rich stories that historic and contemporary quilts, and their makers, tell about our nation’s diverse peoples and their communities.
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To advance this mission, the Quilt Alliance has created the largest collection of oral histories about quilters in the world which is housed at the Library of Congress. You can listen to some of those oral histories in the Quilt Alliance's podcast Running Stitch, or even see a live oral history recording at a free Textile Talk. Here is an oral history I recorded with the Quilt Alliance where you can hear all about my early quilting days!
For the Quilt Alliance's 30th birthday, they are hosting a Birthday Block of the Month featuring nine amazing quilt pattern designers, including a block designed by me! You can join the Quilt Alliance at any time this year and receive all nine block patterns (they're releasing block number 4 next month) to make your own lap quilt.
Read more about The Quilt Alliance and all the work they do in this profile from last year.
This nonprofit is particularly close to my heart — my mom is the director! A social worker and community organizer, my mom Jane Williams co-founded Love Columbia in 2008 to coordinate the efforts of churches and volunteers to help neighbors in need in Columbia, Missouri.
Love Columbia's mission is to connect community relationships and resources to love people forward (a term my mom coined herself). Those resources include immediate needs, housing, employment, finances, personal development, and rent assistance. In 2020, Love Columbia responded to the pandemic by serving more people than ever before and finding ways to engage over 100 volunteers. They gave special focus to responding to families with children and individuals with disabilities who found themselves newly homeless due to the pandemic.
On top of it all, Love Columbia also runs The Love Seat, a furniture bank and resale shop that has provided employment for over 100 individuals with barriers to obtaining employment since opening.
Learn more about Love Columbia and their incredible strides over the last few years in this article from last year.
With a mission to ensure that children with disabilities and their families are empowered, Easterseals is a national organization that may have a chapter in your area. The Easterseals DuPage & Fox Valley location is particularly important to the Suzy Quilts team because team member Laura's daughter was a client there. Since we last told you about Easterseals DuPage & Fox Valley and the amazing work they do locally, her daughter has graduated from all of her therapies thanks to the hard work of her care team!
Last year, Easterseals DuPage & Fox Valley has served over 2,500 people through their in-center services, tele-therapy, and early intervention. That's an astounding amount of work to do!
Learn more about Easterseals DuPage & Fox Valley in this post from last year.
New Moms’ mission is to strengthen families by partnering with young moms as they progress toward housing stability, economic mobility, and family well-being. We believe in the strength, skills, and potential of all families and communities to pursue and achieve their goals, and envision a future where every young family thrives.
Offering a number of programs to support new moms during vulnerable times, New Moms even has coaches to help guide moms through housing assistance, job training, academics, and family support.
But one of the best programs at New Moms is Bright Endeavors, a candle shop that I personally buy from — their candles are the best! As New Moms says, "At Bright Endeavors, young moms engage in a comprehensive, paid job training program where they gain career skills, a professional network, and a set of tools to help them thrive in their chosen profession, all while learning what is required to power a manufacturing and distribution operation for our growing home fragrance brand."
Learn more about New Moms and Bright Endeavors.
Thank You For Helping Us Support Good Causes!
The next time you make a pattern purchase, you can smile extra wide knowing that your purchase is helping us donate to one of these wonderful organizations. Follow The Quilt Alliance, Love Columbia, Easterseals DuPage & Fox Valley, and New Moms on social media to watch them grow and thrive this year thanks in part to you!
Thank you so much for giving back. What a great example for all of us. The organizations look great. ♥️
Inspiring, thank you for all you are enabling with your donations
What amazing organizations!!!! I am proud to buy patterns from you especially knowing that ultimately so many people are also being helped with your generous donations!
Using and sharing your talents, gifts and abilities to enrich the world around you – you are blessed to be a blessing! I agree with Fran who said she was proud to purchase patterns from you. Thanks for sharing the story about this year’s contributions!
You may have worked with The Sewing Labs in Kansas City, but if not, I highly recommend them for future support! I’m an enthusiastic volunteer there.