St. Olaf's Youth Group

On Sunday, I had the privilege of visiting St. Olaf's Catholic Church to make a presentation to the youth group. St. Olaf's is in Poulsbo, our hometown, and they have been supporting Katie's Comforters Guild for a few years now, making and donating warm fleece blankets for patients through the inspiration of one of their members: Briana. Briana is our one junior guild member - and we'd love to have more like her!

I made a tri-fold presentation board and mounted photo collage pages on it (mentioned in a previous posting). I included information about guild membership, as well as about Katie's endowment and the progress in cancer research and treatment since her passing. I brought Katie's own comforter with me so that they could see how much love a blanket gets in the hospital.

We took photos together, and then they got to work, making another batch of fleece blankets to donate.

Photos courtesy of Mary Ryan, with permission from St. Olaf's Youth Group

Photos courtesy of Mary Ryan, with permission from St. Olaf's Youth Group

Photos courtesy of Mary Ryan, with permission from St. Olaf's Youth Group

Photos courtesy of Mary Ryan, with permission from St. Olaf's Youth Group

Photos courtesy of Mary Ryan, with permission from St. Olaf's Youth Group

The finished product! Photos courtesy of Mary Ryan, with permission from St. Olaf's Youth Group

Thank you, 

St. Olaf's Youth Group and leadership! 

Your spirit of giving and 

your helping hands 

will bring great comfort to patients.

Happy Anniversary!...and an Invitation

Our guild received a certificate of appreciation from Seattle Children's Hospital's Guild Association in honor of our 5th anniversary.

They plan to honor our guild at the Annual Membership Luncheon on May 9th, 2014. I hope you can attend!  
If you are not yet a member of our guild, please consider joining and you will be welcome to attend this luncheon.
It is going to be a star-studded event, featuring a keynote speech by Dr. Jim Hendricks, the president of Seattle Children's Research Institute, and a special guest appearance by Dr. Michael Jensen (of the Ben Towne Center for Childhood Cancer Research at Seattle Children's Research Institute).
The Katie Gerstenberger Endowment for Cancer Research supports Dr. Jensen's lab.
One of the special presentations at the luncheon will be by a patient, Milton Wright, who is now cancer-free after his third occurrence (second relapse) of leukemia. His cancer was wiped out after he was treated with the protocol which Dr. Jensen developed!

Heartfelt thanks 

to all of our guild members, 

friends and donors! 

We appreciate each one of you, 

who so generously share your

time, talent and treasure

with our guild 

in order to bring comfort 

to patients and families 

at Seattle Children's Hospital.

When I think about how it all began with this quilt

which brought such comfort to Katie,

I am thrilled with the power of an idea, when put into generous hearts and hands.

The very first quilt made by Katie's Comforters

HAPPY 5th ANNIVERSARY, friends!

Gratitude for Our Members

We received a special donation recently, from our junior member. Did you know that young people can join the guilds at Seattle Children's Hospital as Junior Members? They can, and they are able to make a great impact, as we know from the fabulous work by the Pink Polka Dots Guild, among others!

If you know any young people who might like to join our guild, please let us know - they are very welcome indeed!

Our guild has one junior member, and her name is Briana. She and her mom recently donated 2 beautiful fleece blankets which Briana and her friend Abby made (double sided and knotted):

Aren't they cozy and cheerful? We so appreciate Briana's time, talent and generosity.

Thank you, Briana, Mary and Abby!

While I was delivering the quilts, I had the opportunity to walk down the hall in the hospital where all of the endowment plaques are posted. 

Here is Katie's Endowment's plaque, in case you haven't seen it. 

It makes me proud to see it there - 

proud and GRATEFUL

 to those who have generously donated to support cancer research in Katie's memory. Great progress is being made at the Ben Towne Center for Childhood Cancer Research through Seattle Children's Hospital, and Katie's endowment supports this work.

It's Here: The EHL Newsletter Article!

Here is the link to the EHL Insurance Newsletter, with their article about Katie's Comforters Guild and the Katie Gerstenberger Endowment for Cancer Research.
Thank you again, EHL Insurance!

How To Donate

I've received questions about how to make a donation to Katie's Comforters Guild. Good news:  you have some choices (I love choices)!

You may write a check to:
Katie's Comforters Guild
c/o Seattle Children's Hospital Guild Association
M/S S 200
P.O. Box 50020
Seattle, WA  98145-5020

You may also donate online. If you have questions about how to do this, please call the Guild Association office at 206-987-2153,
or 800-635-1432 (toll-free).

If you would like to donate to Seattle Children's Hospital, you can go to their website by following this link. There is information about many ways to donate here.

If you would like to donate to the Katie Gerstenberger Endowment for Cancer Research at Seattle Children's Hospital, click this link, 
 or mail a check to: 
Katie Gerstenberger Endowment
c/o Seattle Children's Hospital Foundation
PO Box 50020 / S - 200
Seattle, WA 98145-5020

Thank you for asking!