Jill, Austin and Alexis Make a Donation

I received a note from my friend Jillian D. a little while ago. Jill is the very lovely mother of adorable Austin and Alexis. Alexis is a cancer survivor who was treated at Seattle Children's Hospital, and her big sister, Austin, aspires to be a doctor. Their family has done a great deal to raise awareness of pediatric cancer, and to raise support for the hospital. Both of the girls are active and multi-talented.

Jill's note said that on her next visit to Seattle Children's Hospital, "I will be bringing the quilts (4 of them) that my neighbor made. I would love to give them in honor of Katie's guild."

Jill's neighbor, Mary F., is clearly a very talented quilter!

Austin and Alexis donating Mary's quilts to Seattle Children's Hospital through Katie's Comforters Guild

Thank you, Mary, for your generous donation of four bright, cheery quilts, and
thank you, Jill, Austin and Alexis for delivering them through our guild!

As September Was Winding Down...

...there was a lot of activity in Katie's Comforters Guild!
The last week of the September, which is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, saw your president working for awareness and support.

On Sunday, September 23rd, I made a presentation about my book, about our guild and about childhood cancer research at Eagle Harbor Book Company on Bainbridge Island, WA. There is news about this event on both of my other blogs:
Gberger and 
abundant living after catastrophe .

I brought Katie's quilt with me to help "show and tell," and Donna's and Sandy's quilt (see the previous posting) was hanging on display in the front window of the store for a week, behind the poster of my book's cover. It provided a wonderful illustration of our guild's mission, and what our talented, generous members and friends do!

Several members and friends of our guild were in attendance at this event, and one of them was Bonnie P. She brought with her a new half-dozen quilts to donate to the guild. Here they are:

Awesome tie-dye center with borders and Bonnie's trademark "FROG" label

This is a photo of two together - a sunshine theme and a dinosaur theme

Beautiful batik

Handkerchief-style print

Anchors aweigh with mattress-ticking stripes

Thank you, Bonnie!

The day after this event, I was invited to speak to a group of quilters who meet to sew for charity. They wanted to know more about our guild, so I took Katie's comforter and Donna's and Sandy's quilt, along with some brochures, and spoke to them. They have decided to sew a donation for us, and I'm so thankful!

On Friday, September 28th, Dr. Michael Jensen, director of the Ben Towne Center for Childhood Cancer Research announced at the annual Ben Towne Foundation BENefit that the FDA has given permission for clinical trials to commence using Dr. Jensen's T-cell therapy in treating childhood cancer. This is wonderful news! Treatment with little side effects and no harm done to patients is a dream-coming-true. The Katie Gerstenberger Endowment for Cancer Research supports the Jensen Laboratory, and their work holds great promise.

September was an awesome month for progress in pediatric cancer awareness, research and comfort. Thank you for all you do to help make this possible!