As of 10/04/2005, our local quilters have donated 405 quilts that have been sent to families devastated by the hurricane and ensuing flood.

9/19 Update:

As of 9/19: Quilters Comfort America is once again accepting quilts! The following letter arrived this past weekend:

Susan, change of plans! If you have not otherwise placed your quilts, we CAN accept them down here! Things changed quickly on Thursday and Friday, and we now have several very good distribution venues that can handle as many quilts as we can provide them for the evacuees. This is a combination of a military base being re-structured as evacuee housing in Louisiana, a combination of church shelters in Mississippi, the City of Houston official hurricane relief center where the evacuees go to "shop" for free goods to furnish their new housing, and miracle of all miracles, the Red Cross shelter at Reliant Center, which is where the three biggest Houston shelters have combined forces.

So if you want to go ahead and send your quilts, we'll be happy to take them. However, I do need to provide you with a new address, as our office building finally insisted we HAD to move the quilts out to another location as they were concerned over fire safety with the huge boxes running down both sides of the corridors. Our convention decorator, AEX, has agreed to let their huge warehouse be used for the next couple of weeks to accept and disburse the quilts, and that's great because the 18-wheelers can more easily be loaded from that kind of facility. Doug Berry, the fellow in the address, worked for us for years and knows how precious the quilts are, so they'll be in good hands. We placed over 1000 yesterday, the first truck for Mississippi left with another 1500 today, and Monday we shoujld make the first delivery to the City of Houston center. So we are placing quilts right and left. Here's that address:

Comfort America Project
AEX
Attn: Doug Berry
5544 Armour Drive
Houston, TX 77020

It would help if you'd put the number of items on the outside of the box like this (do NOT use the word quilts!) : 10q, 15bl, 6sh, 2o That would be 10 quilts, 15 blankets, 6 sheets, and 2 "other" (whatever other might be--toys, books, reading glasses, totebags, etc.).

Let me know if we should expect anything from y'all. Thanks for helping QUILTERS COMFORT AMERICA!
Karey Bresenhan

Gathering Fabric Quilt Shop will continue working with organizations both local and national to distribute quilts to the familes of Katrina. We will continue to accept quilts throughout the month and urge you as well to consider sending quilts to various charitable organizations of your choosing.

Thank you for your generous response to our call for quilts. Your incredible gesture of comfort to these families has been deeply felt.

Susan