Commentary by Brad Thompson
To show love, caring and literally warmth, an organization called Loose Threads, based out of Zionsville Presbyterian Church, makes quilts for the homeless.
In partnership with the Homeless Initiative Program, the Zionsville volunteers gather every Thursday morning at ZPC to make quilts and prayer shawls. The HIP initiative is run by HealthNet in Indianapolis. Its goal is to help people in Marion County living on the streets reach self-sufficiency.
Loose Threads is open to all volunteers – regardless of affiliation – who want to help make a difference for the homeless. The group makes roughly 150 quilts per year, and operates through a relatively efficient assembly line that involves disassembling woolen clothing, blankets and sweaters into flat, single-ply materials, cutting squares, artistically laying out the squares into an attractive quilt, sewing them together and then sewing on a backing. For kids, the quilts even contain a pocket to store a stuffed animal.
The group needs donations of 100 percent wool clothing or blankets, bolts of solid color fleece and skeins of soft yarn. They are also always looking for people who can sew, or are willing to learn.
If you have wool materials to donate, you can drop them off at the ZPC office at the corner of 116th Street and Michigan Road. Learn more at zpc.org.
