Ripples of kindness … quilts for Po Leung Kuk orphanage & care centre

A few months ago, I started a project inspired by my youngest son & his art teacher. I decided to use up my entire fabric collection to make quilts for the residents of the Po Leung Kuk orphanage & care centre in Causeway Bay, here in Hong Kong. A slight miscommunication with junior led me to believe that I would need to make 40 quilts. I felt it was a tall order, but do-able. I had worked out a plan, had decided to concentrate on machine piecing & quilting, and felt good about the project.

A few weeks later, his art teacher & I paid a visit to the centre, armed with the initial quilts, to confirm that these would be appropriate for the children. That’s when I realised there were 175 kids aged 3 to 18 in the centre, not 40. The staff was so excited to see the quilts that I kept quiet about the numbers.

I had mentally & emotionally committed to making a unique quilt for each child. My head & my heart were perfectly aligned on this - the best way to describe it is almost spiritual: I had a deep sense of knowing. All the kids will have a unique quilt for Xmas 2023. All 175 of them. How, I had no idea.

So I posted a call for help on the Sew HK Facebook group, not knowing whether there were many quilters in Hong Kong.

I posted on my Instagram account & also on my LinkedIn profile, which I typically use for the other part of my portfolio career, ie. my coaching & consulting services.

Po Leung Kuk Centre, CauseWay Bay

Then the magic started to happen. Slowly at first, so I didn’t notice. Then at a much faster pace, which led me to finally pick up the pen to update this blog.

The story captured the heart & imagination of many people here in Hong Kong & further afield. Before long, 40+ volunteers committed to donating their time, fabrics, creativity & a big dose of love to this project.

About 20 ladies who are used to sewing garnments came forward to help, asking to be taught how to make quilts. In parallel, 2 experienced quilters offered to teach any beginners that might volunteer. Bingo!

Some volunteers are creating a quilt with their own young children, using the opportunity to teach a lovely lesson in supporting people you don’t know.

Four grown up kids roped their mothers into this project. These mums asked for more friends to support them. Within a month of asking for help, we had a global initiative with quilts being made in New Zealand, Australia, Cyprus, The Netherlands, the UK & the USA.

I had goosebumps: what a wonderful display of love & generosity at a time when I know many people around the world are having a hard time & could have easily and very understandably turned the request down.

The ripples of kindness didn’t stop there.

One of the beginner volunteer found a new passion with quilting (yes! another one joining our ranks!!). She happens to work in the import/export industry and texted me to say that she was chatting in the office & a colleague contacted one of their suppliers to see whether they would want to contribute in some way. The long & short of it is that the supplier happens to be a manufacturer of quilting notions - mats, rotary cutters, rulers, etc. Incredibly, they are in the process of collating a wish list that we put together for our volunteers. An incredible gesture!

The list goes on. This initiative is growing by the day and, as I am typing now, we have 112 quilts pledged to be made. 17 of them are already finished & I am still committed to making my 40 quilts.

I’ll share further updates later. In the meantime, enjoy some of the quilts I’ve already completed.

The world is a kind place indeed